Jean's got nothing on me
by The Godess Freya
Summary: A weary mutant finds her way to Xavier's school and gives her heart to a man who already has given his own. That wasn't going to stop her, just as a rampaging Apocalypse wasn't going to take him away from her. A Wolverine/OC pairing. *Currently being revamped*
1. Xavier's School and Logan

To all of my lovely readers: I've redone this chapter of the story. It's taken me a bit, but I think I like this a bit more. I want Logan a bit more rugged and I want her to be a bit more on par with him. So do you like the new portrayal of them together?

Also, I changed this story to a M rating just to make sure I'm safe. There's no sex scenes (I haven't decided if I want to do one yet or not) but there's a bit of swearing that'll be going on. I'd like to think Logan can swear like a sailor when he gets angry enough. So warning and caution and all that.

And final question: Do you want more on her time at the mansion before Apocalypse where she gets closer to Logan, or would you rather it jump straight to the second chapter?

Anyways, hope you enjoy and review on your thoughts!

* * *

I owed Charles Xavier more than I could ever repay. He had taken me, a scraggly mutant woman who literally dragged herself to his door, and given me a place and a home. He had kindly shown me through his gorgeous mansion and given me food when he realized how hungry I was. He had given me clothes and sent me straight to bed as if he knew how truly exhausted I was. Even in the middle of the day, I had slept easily and gratefully. For even this one night of security, I owed him so much. He had also promised me schooling - which I had never been able to dream of. Any knowledge I had wanted, I had to learn on my own and it wasn't much.

Fleeing my parents had been the hardest decision of my life. Even though they abused the "spawn of the devil" it was still my home, it was still my bed, and I was still safe. I hadn't realized how hard it would be on the streets and it took so much mental fortitude not to run back to the abusers of my past.

But now Charles Xavier had taken me in and given me a home and in return I would be loyal to him. I owed the man my life.

"Katherine, are you awake?" I blinked a few times, clearing my thoughts and the few layers of sleep I was still under. The voice was familiar. Storm, that was her name. She was with the Professor when I first arrived. She was kind, I remembered that. A kind face and kind eyes.

"No!"

There was soft laughter. "Katherine, your first day of school starts today." I was scared and nervous but also excited. It was time for a new chapter of my life.

"I can't leave the bed. The blankets have accepted me as one of their own and if I leave now I might lose their trust."

More laughter echoed through the door. "I will tell the Professor that you couldn't come down and eat a plate of breakfast with us. Even if it is freshly cooked and waiting on the table already." Oh, below the belt. My stomach growled in protest and I knew the bed had lost priority.

"Cheater." Knowing she had me, the woman left me to my own devices and I threw off the covers, promising them a hasty return and asking for their continued trust. The clothes I had last night were gone and hopefully for the good of humanity they had been burned. They served me for a full six months of use and I had not been able to wash clothes all that often.

I opened the closet and found a variety of clothes in a variety of sizes. Unfortunately I was on the skinny side. My ribs were visible enough and my body a bit too bony, which led me down to the smallest size they had. I dragged on the pants, pulled the shirt on, and dashed out the door to the kitchen. I made it in time to see a man sitting down beside my plate and I leapt to the open chair and wrapped my arms around the plate. Around me there was giggling and laughing, but the man quirked an eyebrow at me like I was crazy. Then again I probably looked crazy to him at the moment.

"My food."

"I really wasn't going to give it away," Storm stated from across the table. "I'm not that mean." The man snorted in amusement and sent me another look, this time shaking his head at me. I just tightened my arms around my plate. I wasn't going to take any chances.

There were about five of us around the table, though each face was unfamiliar to me. I hadn't met many people yesterday except for the Professor and Storm when they showed me around the school. Good thing I wasn't too shy around new people and this plate of food looked delicious. Mine now!

"Well, on the off chance." Slowly I ate my food, savoring each bite. With each swallow my stomach cramped and I schooled my features as I tried to hide the pain.

"Is everything all right? Do you want me to make you something else?" The soft motherly voice asked me. I felt my face flush and looked down into my food. Honesty was the best policy by this point.

"Not counting supper yesterday, I've been without food for two days. And it's been weeks since I've managed to eat more than twice a day."

"Ah, I see." As I looked up, her pure blue eyes gazed at me with a look I knew. There was a heaviness to them, a sadness, and understanding. It was a look of someone who had once been on the streets and remembered the experience well. My respect for her went up a few notches.

"Well, if she doesn't finish it, I'll have to do it for everyone's sake." The teasing voice came from a young boy who grinned as he smiled at me. Happy to have the conversation on lighter waters, I brandished my fork at him.

"Bobby," Storm warned, but he just grinned boyishly at her. She sighed but a ghost of a smile appeared briefly on her face.

"At your own risk." Everyone laughed at me and continued to eat.

"Katherine, today I want to take you to the danger room," Storm told me a few minutes later once she had finished her food.

"Sounds fun," I quipped. What kind of fun was it going to be if the literal name was the danger room?

"It's a simulator we use to gauge abilities. We test different mutants in different environments and find our own strengths and weaknesses. I don't expect you to be the best, Katherine. I just want to know what you can do." Well, I could lift a wallet out of a pocket without even being near someone, and I could make food fly away from a cart so fast you wouldn't even see it gone. And I could make myself jump really high if I needed to get away from the police, and even jump from building to building. I wasn't trained for combat, just for sneaking around.

I shrugged at Storm. "I don't know how to fight. At all."

"Where do you think we all started from?" When I turned, I saw a redhead walking towards the table, smiling at me. "My name is Jean and even I started out knowing nothing on how to fight."

"Says you," the man beside me muttered. Jean just lifted her chin and sat down, making the man's smile appear for a split second. I was amazed at the way it transformed him, making him almost approachable in the split second it was there before it was replaced by the neutral scowl once more.

"Have you been in a fight before?" Jean asked me.

"Sure, some. Usually I just get out of it before it becomes an issue."

"Which can be useful in it's own way."

Finally I had to push away the plate. I'd eaten a solid half of it and my stomach was completely stuffed, and I wasn't going to chance eating more to throw it up later. "You win," I told the man down at the end of the table. I shoved the plate down the table and past the man sitting beside me, who idly stabbed a piece of bacon and ate it.

"Hey!"

"It's the toll, kid," he replied gruffly. At first glance, he didn't seem the type of man to be capable of teasing. His demeanor was gruff and he just an arrogant confidence, also giving the allusion of someone so tough that he wouldn't even realize the concept of teasing. But Bobby took the ribbing in stride as if it happened often and grinned when he finally got the plate of food he'd been eyeing.

"Sweet. Storm cooking."

"Bobby," Storm cautioned. He dug in regardless and I stood, ready to face this so called danger room.

"Where is this danger room?"

"Follow me. I expect the rest of you there shortly." The man beside me grunted and through a mouthful of food Bobby made a noise that either sounded like an affirmative or was a groan of resignation. Jean stood with us and we both followed Storm down the hallway.

"Today Storm and I will be watching from another room," Jean stated. "You don't have to fight on the front lines and be heroic. Don't hurt or strain yourself."

"We want to see you in a fighting situation and how you react. Since you were not allowed to use your powers as often as you were supposed to, I expect you to not be able to handle what the others can." It was true. My parents didn't allow me to use any of my powers when I lived with them and on the streets, you did not use your powers in front of anyone. There were too many humans afraid of mutants and too many of them willing to resort to violence before asking questions. I had kept my head down and my powers on a tight leash.

"I'll try my best."

"And that's all we'll ever ask of you," Jean said, placing a hand on my arm. I flinched, unused to the contact, but she didn't retract her hand. "Just do your best and push yourself, and you will be up to our level in no time at all." Okay, so I knew that was bullshit, but she was trying to make me feel better.

"Of course."

"Would you like a uniform, Katherine?" Storm asked as we stopped outside of the room.

"No thanks." Those things were skin tight and I did not want to be showing off my skinny body. Plus I was used to baggy clothes.

"We'll get you some better clothes later today, Kat," Jean said with a smile.

In this moment of seeing her smiling down at me gently, I felt as if this is what a mother should be. I felt grateful and relieved, loved and understood all at once. It felt like even if I fucked up this trial, she wouldn't be disappointed in me as my mother had been. She would still be there for me.

"I don't have any money."

"That's okay, we do."

"I'll pay you back." The two women looked at one another and sensing my pride was on the line, they dropped it. When I had money, I would pay them back. It was a matter of pride and pride was all I had left to call my own.

We walked into the room and I was surprised to see it was pretty huge, but incredibly empty. A small blue sphere was in the middle of the room and hung from the ceiling, while silver bars splayed out from it, forming an X. The floor was the same, except with no sphere.

"We'll be watching you from up there," Storm pointed out. "Here, let me show you how the danger room works." With that her eyes whitened and she began to lift into the air as wind whipped at our hair. My mouth hit the floor in absolute shock. The chick was _flying_. I could jump. She could _fly_. I wanted her powers.

"She controls the weather, as well as the wind. With it she can lift herself in the air and keep herself there," Jean explained even as she smiled at my disbelief. When Storm made it inside the room flickered once before going completely dark. "Here we go." When the lights came on, I was surrounded by buildings and people were milling around me, much like they had in New York. I reached out and touched a person, who glared at me and kept walking. But the person was solid. I touched, I felt, I knew the texture of his jacket.

"My god."

"For all purposes, this room becomes reality. Understand these aren't just holograms. They can and will hurt you if given the chance. That's why it is called the danger room." Well, it made sense.

"Hey, starting without me?" The kid who had polished off my breakfast pushed his way between people to get to us and Jean shook her head.

"We're just explaining the danger room."

"Ah. My name's Bobby." He reached out a hand and I shook it. "Or Iceman. Either one." It didn't take a genius to figure out his mutant power would be ice so i didn't have to ask him about it. Plus I was still uncomfortable sharing my powers with anyone. I wasn't used to being open about mutants or their abilities.

"Why are we here?" The voice was heavy accented and purely Russian. I absolutely loved it. If there was one weakness I had, it was Russian accents and I had no idea why. So this guy was going to just read me a story one day so I could listen. He just didn't know it yet.

"Showing the new girl the ropes," Bobby answered.

"I see. My name is Jason. It is a pleasure."

"Likewise," I said with a broad smile.

"Now all we're missing is Logan. Where is that man?" When Bobby shrugged, Jean sighed. "Why don't we start without him. Storm? They're ready!" Around us the city dropped and then changed in a blink of an eye. Now we were standing on gravel with darkness pressing in from all sides. Various wreckage littered the ground, even a car was on fire not too far from us."This is a defensive exercise," Jean began. "You will be hunted and you need to hide and survive. Afterwards, we can work on offense." All three of us nodded.

"You startin' without me, Jean?" The black haired man from before appeared beside us, his arms crossed over his chest. He smirked at Jean with pure arrogance and she shook her head. He was dressed in the tight black leather of the other two men, but on him, it looked absolutely delectable. It hugged him in all the right places and accentuated everything on him.

In other more female words, I'd love to sink my teeth into that sexy, sexy man.

"We told you not to be late."

"Since everyone is here, this is Katherine. She's our newest student as of today." Bobby smiled, Jason nodded at me, and Logan just looked at me. He wasn't even sizing me up, he was just looking as if I was a person and not worth his time to check out. "Kat, what are your mutant powers?" I froze at the question. I knew I had to say it eventually but I wasn't prepared. I didn't know these people well enough. But then again, I was here in a safe haven. Hopefully, that meant the knowledge of my powers would be safe here.

"Telekinesis." Jean smiled and I continued. "I can also talk to people's minds. Influence them to a degree. But not very well and usually I can only manage it when I'm scared or running." I looked away from the group as I colored in shame.

"You just haven't had the practice," she said, placing both hands on my shoulders. "That's why you're here. I'm telekinetic too as well as psychic. I can help train you." I blinked.

Someone else had the same powers? They weren't afraid of me? When my powers had manifested my parents became terrified of me, going to extremes to prevent me from taking over their minds. One of the more fun moments was when they made headgear out of aluminum foil and wore it for a full week.

"Yeah, she's a really good teacher," Bobby said, probably trying to clear the tension. "She taught me a lot about how to use my powers, so don't worry." I smiled gratefully to the boy.

"So let's get started. I'll be watching with Storm." She lifted into the air and my jaw dropped as she flew to the top and out of sight.

"Everybody can fucking fly but me," I stated in a bland, dry tone. Bobby laughed, Jason smiled, and even Logan was smirking in amusement.

At that, we heard a loud sound and everyone but me bolted almost at the same time. I blinked, then ran for cover myself. I was beginning to feel a twinge of fear. I didn't know what was coming out of that darkness. I saw a purple light on the ground, then it moved quickly from side to side and up and down. A scanner of some type? Now a purple blast blew into the car that was on fire, slamming into it and flinging it back into the darkness. My heart stopped. Oh god, what did I get myself into? No, i couldn't be afraid. I breathed. If I lost my head now, I would definitely get hurt and I was not doing that on my first day of training.

_Focus girl, focus._

Okay, okay. Around me, was...gravel. And dirt. And debris. And flaming cars. It was like a war had occurred, or even was occurring in this spot. There was nothing but chaos and devastation around me.

I knew where the others were in a vague sense; I had the ability to sense an aura or a field around them, whatever you wanted to call it. When I knew someone better I could find them easily but for now they were wavering but easy enough to place for this exercise. They were all scattered about, far enough to not be able to help me but close enough to be in range of my powers.

So that left me alone, in a place where I couldn't really hide well. Right. Well, these had to be robots of some type so I couldn't really influence them. After all, they were just wires and circuits and not sentient. So I was screwed. I didn't have to run, so I was screwed. And I was pretty sure they didn't have pockets I could lift. Ugh. I growled under my breath; why couldn't they have made the enemies human to give me a fighting chance?

The light began to scan again and this time, I saw Bobby swivel around a car and blast off a shot of ice. I heard a horrid sound, a scraping like nails on a chalkboard, and some sort of robotic voice, almost glitching. Then I heard a crash. I looked up only to see something rolling past the huge eighteen wheeler I was hiding behind. It was a robot head; a purple robot head with sizzling wires and glinting purple eyes and _oh my god is it looking at me_? It didn't help that it was covered in ice and all shiny, glinty, and just demonic looking. Oh god, I was going to have nightmares for weeks.

A shot had me whipping my head to look at Bobby, who was on the run. I saw Jason run towards a huge piece of scrap metal and turn silver as he picked it up. I gaped; that was a car door and had to be heavy but he threw the metal easily and I heard more of that god awful noise.

However the light was still following Bobby. Now, it was my turn to show what I could do. I lifted my hands and picked up a car he was running past, blocking him from the light for a split second. Lucky for him I had done it. A purple blast ripped the car from my grasp and I cried out as my head began to pound. Not good. I wasn't used to lifting things as heavy as cars. Yet it was enough and Bobby was hidden and out of sight.

_Bobby, this is Kat. I'm going to throw up a diversion. Can you shoot another one of those things?_

**For the woman who let me have Storm cooked breakfast? Absolutely. **I snorted in amusement and shook my head.

_Here goes the decoys._

I picked up gravel and made it into the vague shape of a human, running them away from Bobby and behind cars. The light quickly snapped to where the gravel had hidden and I moved them again just in case. I saw the blue flash of light and heard the sound, which meant another machine was down. However, I knew I was about done and we had barely started. Blood was dripping from my nose and my head was aching.

"Hey kid, you all right?" Beside me I saw Logan, who was crouching beside of me, his eyes on my face. When the hell did he get here? How did I not notice the man? He had literally snuck up and had to have been sitting there for a bit.

"Eh, I've had worse. How many more are there?"

"One."

"I can hold out for one." He looked at me in disbelief and I became slightly annoyed at his insinuating glance. "Oh come on, like a nosebleeds going to kill me. Jesus."

I was surprised when I saw the grin on his face and was struck by how gorgeous he was. It wasn't exactly a model pretty, he was rugged and masculine. His hair was cropped just so when he had his face tilted at this angle, and his eyes were laughing, but still shone with strength. That was what I respected most about men was their strength, and this one seemed to have it in spades. It didn't help that he looked absolutely delicious in that leather suit he was wearing. Combined with the grin, I knew this man was definitely going to be a distraction for me.

"Think you can handle one more run of those gravel monsters?"

"For you? Maybe. What's the plan boss?" He grunted in amusement.

"I need to get to Jason."

"All right mister almost stole my breakfast. Distraction, coming right up." He grinned again and ruffled my hair before standing. "But not if you keep doing that."

"Picky."

"Yeah well, live and learn boss." I lifted my hands and more gravel people appeared to the right. I sent them off in every direction and the purple light quickly found them and scrambled to lock on to one. When it would lock on to one, I let it drop and ran another just on the edge of its sight. I kept it up for a bit before I heard Logan from somewhere to my left.

"Hey tin man, how's the throwing arm?"

_The fuck?_

I turned to see a silver Jason pick up Logan and fling him into the darkness. I heard the sound of dying robotics yet again and peeked out to see Logan land, three claws emerging from his hands. He popped his neck side to side and flicked his wrists, making the blades go back into his hands. Holy. Shit. The. Fuck. What were his powers? Did those claws come from everywhere?

"This was supposed to be a defensive exercise," Storm's voice echoed around the room. Around us everything dissolved and we appeared back into the empty room from before.

"A good defense is a good offense," Logan stated sardonically. Storm and Jean flew from the top of the dome and landed near Logan. The rest of us made our way over and Jean spotted the blood instantly.

"Katherine, are you all right?" I had a pounding headache from hell, blood coming out of my nose, and running on empty for energy.

Then I saw Logan's smile. That was worth every second of pain. I hadn't backed down and he appreciated me for it. Yummy Leather Logan. Yup, that's what he was. That smile should have been illegal.

"I'll live. I'm just not used to doing all that at once."

"Let's get you to a doctor."

"Don't need one. Gimmie a towel, some aspirin, and a couple hours of sleep. I'll be golden."

"Kid, don't argue," Logan stated, crossing his arms. "Nosebleed ain't gonna kill ya, but don't be an idiot and not get it checked out."

"Don't call me kid," I growled. He smirked and I glared. Gorgeous asshole.

"Let's get you cleaned up at least," Storm said and put a hand to my back. She guided me out of the room and towards I assumed the infirmary. "You did well for our first session. You just need to build up your powers."

"Maybe I'll take Jean up on that offer of training."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

"You're concentrating too hard on holding each disc as a separate entity. Don't think so hard or you will overthink it."

A week later had me training with Jean and her husband Scott. The job was to lift a disc up into the air and fling it high to where Scott could destroy it with his laser eyes. I had been doing fine with one, but when she ordered me to do two at once, I couldn't.

When I lifted one, the other would begin to wobble. When I caught the one wobbling, the other would fall, and I would catch that one, and continue the never ending cycle. I was the first to admit frustration but when you're spending hours doing something that she could do quite easily; it was hard on your ego.

"I can't get it!" I finally exclaimed and let them drop in frustration. To my chagrin I felt tears and buried my face in my hands. "I'll never be good at this! I'll never be a good mutant! I can't even manage something so simple!" The tears leaked out despite my best efforts to keep them in and I felt Jean come over and wrap her arms around me.

"I know things are tough for you right now, Katherine. All of us went through this at one point but remember, you're not alone anymore. I'm here to teach you and I will teach you for as long as it takes."

"You can always ask me for help," Scott said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I may not be psychic but I can always come out here and practice with you. I know enough from Jean to at least be a good training partner. Don't be so discouraged. You're doing great for your level of abilities."

At this moment with Jean's arms wrapped around me and Scott's hand on my shoulder, I felt the peace and comfort I had always craved. This is what a family should have been like. This is what my family should have been like.

So when the tears started again, they came harder and faster than before. I couldn't stop the keening wails for all the years of pain that I had endured for the sake of my parents love. I couldn't stop the pain in my heart for all the years lost when I could have been here and been happy.

"Why couldn't I have parents like you?" I cried out. "Why?! Why did they hate me? Why am I not good enough? Why did I have to be born a mutant?"

Jean's arms tightened and Scott knelt to wrap both Jean and myself in his arms. They both knew this explosion of tears was a long time in coming and needed to happen.

"You're a little too old to be our child," Scott began. "But if we had a child, we would want her to be like you. You just had bad circumstances and bad experiences. Stay here with us and Xavier's school will become your family. We will take those bad memories away and teach you love and acceptance. You will find your own reason to love being a mutant in time. We all have had to search for our own reasons. So don't give up hope, Katherine. You will learn in time."

I heard him through the haze of pain and sobs, but I couldn't stop this breakdown if my life depended on it.

But through it all, Scott and Jean held me as I cried for all the times I hadn't been able to before.

* * *

A few months later, I was in my bed exhausted. My alarm clock had already gone off for class and I had slammed it back into silence. Mentally I had little to no strength because of the training Jean and I had done last night. Once I had gotten through the mental block of holding two discs at once, the rest had tumbled into place. I was now able to flight five or six at a time and hold each of them at will.

It was a matter of simply letting go of the fact that you were holding five things and letting your mind expand to five or six threads instead of focusing on a single one. Once you were used to operating many tangents at a time, you went into autopilot and it became so laughably easy to handle. It was now just a matter of building up my mutant powers to back up the skills I had learned, and Jean had not gone easy on me.

"Oi, kid! You're late for class." I groaned at the interruption and threw my face into my pillow in agitation. I didn't want to get up today.

"I don't wanna."

"Get up," Logan said from behind the door. For a week or so I had been constantly late since the intensity had ramped up in Jean's training, and Logan had been volun-told to be my personal alarm clock. He was quickly getting tired of the job.

"I'm naked, go away." Silence.

"You're supposed to be in class," he finally stated.

"Yeah, well, so are you," I shot back, my voice muffled by the pillow.

"Storm's teaching this time, so I'm off the hook. You aren't."

"Oh shut up and leave me alone." I heard Logan sigh before the door opened and he walked in. I felt the weight of his glare as he stood beside my bed. I shook my head. I wasn't moving. So he decided to pull the covers off of me. And froze halfway through.

"Kat! For the love of-"

"I told you I was naked," I stated, calmly yanking the covers from his grasp and covering me again. I turned my face away from him as I did it so he wouldn't see the royal blush staining my cheeks. "You didn't listen. Now go away. I wanna sleep."

"No," he stated. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "And why are you so tired today?"

"Training." At his confused grunt, I continued. "Jean was teaching me stuff, kinda pushing my limits. I'm tired, I just wanna sleep."

"Gotta go to defense class." I made an unintelligible sentence before rolling onto my stomach and going back to sleep. "She can't have pushed you that hard."

"Well, we had sex afterwards. A mindblowing orgy. Seriously. Leave. Me. Alone."

Logan should have known by now to pull a Storm and wake me with a cup of coffee as bribery. I was nasty and irritable in the mornings these days, but then again the man had a hide of steel and it didn't bother him.

Finally, he was silent, probably fumbling for a retort to come back to my last statement. Instead of walking away and scrapping their dignity as any other male would have done, Logan simply picked me up, making sure my blanket was wrapped around me, and literally threw me outside of my door. I blinked once in pure amazement that he would have the audacity to do such a thing, and the people outside were staring at me in amazement.

"Logan, you son of a bitch!"

I heard the door click and with the click I instantly became pissed off. I got up and gathered the blanket around me with what little dignity I could manage and glared at the door. The lock popped open to reveal a surprised Logan. I walked past him and glared one more time, smirking in dark amusement when he flew backwards and into the wall behind him. I could tell he was shocked by the blatant use of my new powers and he was awed at how much power I wielded against him. But of course Logan was not one to back down from a challenge, and the satisfied female look was enough of a challenge. He smirked as he rose to his feet.

"At least I got to see you naked." I gaped at the man who knew he had the upper hand once more. "Nice view." And with that parting shot he sauntered off as my face heated up once more. I slammed the door shut with my mind and quickly ran to my closet to dress.

With a morning like this, it was probably safest to go to class.

* * *

As months grew into a year, I found myself close to everyone at the school. What Scott said had finally come true; they were like a new family to me and I had many memories to replace the bad ones of my childhood. However I'd come the closest to Jean. She was my mentor, surrogate mother, and closest friend. I told her of my every thought and secret because I knew she wasn't going to repeat anything I said. She in return did the same. She spoke of her secrets, fears, and desires and between us everything was sacred. She and I were inseparable.

"You're not concentrating well at all," Jean said with a smile.

"Just thinking about things."

"Logan again?" I glared at her and her smiled deepened. "You should tell him about your feelings."

I had come to terms recently with the fact that I was head over heels in puppy love with Logan. He was arrogant and sarcastic, even acerbic, but there was a gentle core inside that made him care and take care of the ones he called friends. He was loyal and true and though he was gruff when he tried to help others, he was there when you needed him. He was everything I wanted and desired in a man and it really didn't help that he wore leather to every training exercise. I couldn't concentrate! But there was only one problem.

"You know as well as I do that even though he may flirt with me, he's in love with you. You're everything I'm not. I'm not a level five mutant, I'm not as beautiful, and I'm certainly not as engaging as you are. You're gentle and kind and I'm well...me." She laughed.

"Exactly, you're not me. Firstly, I'm married and though Logan may not want to realize it, I'm not leaving my husband for him. Secondly you should know better than to think that power levels matter to Logan. He loves someone for that person, not how powerful they are. And lastly, you're not me. That is why he flirts with you. He doesn't do that with every woman, does he?"

"Well, no."

"You're different from the others, Kat. And he can't ignore you as easily as you seem to think he can. Just give it time and you'll see."

"Maybe."

The door opened and both of us looked to see Logan entering, his eyebrow raising at our meditative positions.

"You two are doing a lotta talkin' for meditating."

"We're women, Logan. Plus Katherine has a crush." My eyes widened and I whirled to glare at Jean.

"Shut up!" I hissed at her, but at that moment of acute embarrassment I forgot about Logan's supersonic hearing.

"Oh?"

"It's no one, Jean was just being funny. Ha, ha Jean, you made a funny." At my anger she laughed and her mind brushed against mine.

**Forgive me. But now the fact that you like someone will be in his mind. He won't be able to forget about it and will think about it. With men like Logan, sometimes this is the way you have to operate.**

_With the finesse of a sledgehammer! What if he doesn't want me and backs off because I may have a man?!_

**Ah, but you don't have a man. You have a crush on a man, which is a whole different thing. Now he'll have to see you as a woman because you may actually be thinking of getting with a man. Trust me, you'll see what I mean.**

_You better be right, or I'll eat a donut in front of you or something._ I felt her amusement and saw her smile.

"Look, if you two really want to gossip about stupid shit all day, that's fine, but don't talk minds while I'm in here."

**See? It bothers him that he can't know about it. Typical Logan.**

"We're sorry for not including you, Logan, but you're not a woman," Jean said with a smile.

"Yeah, girl time and all," I agreed, still irritated about the slip Jean had said.

"Professor wants you, so get up kid." I rolled my eyes at the nickname. He only used it when he was irritated with me or wanted to get under my skin, and I was used to it by now so it didn't bother me as much as it had in the past.

"Right. See you later tonight, Jean." She hummed her response and closed her eyes to meditate once more. I headed out the door and down the hall, aware that Logan was closer than normal to me.

"So who's the man you like?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that," I shot back. "It really is a girl thing!" At his look of aggravation I relented a bit. "Look, the guy likes someone else anyway and he doesn't really notice me, so it's not that big of a deal."

We arrived at the door to the Professor's office and I went to open the door, but stopped at Logan's short laugh.

"Like any guy couldn't notice you." I blinked in confusion as he walked away. That man was a mystery and swear to god, I would never be able to figure him out.

I opened the door after a moment and walked inside the Professor's room. He gestured to the seat in front of his desk and I sat.

"Katherine, I know you haven't spoken of your parents much, but today I gave them a call to let them know where their daughter was." The old pain flared to life at the mention of my parents. "I'm sure you know what exactly they told me"

"Sure, keep the spawn of the devil, demon child, whatever insult it was, the hell away from us." The Professor smiled gently. He would be able to hear the pain in my voice.

"The summary, yes. But that is not why I called them. I called them to speak of breaking you off permanently from them. You will no longer be a part of their lives physically as well as legally. You will cut all ties from them. I want to know what thoughts you have on this matter?"

I blinked once, then twice at the Professor's sudden interest in my parents.

"Well, all they ever brought me was pain. Anything I try to do for them now they will throw it back in my face. And here Professor, here is my family. I owe you everything in the world for that. I don't want anything to do with my parents anymore."

"Good. Then I want to extend to you an invitation to join my team, the X-men. I know Jean has been training you so that you can fight. I know that you are so much stronger than when you arrived, and I believe you are ready for more responsibility. If you join, you will be paid a salary. Others aren't, but I know that paying us back is important to you, and if you wish to pay us back with your wages, I will understand. But you will work for me, do you understand?"

It's hard to explain what it feels like when everything you've ever dreamed of is literally dumped in your lap. You're happy, scared, excited, nervous, jittery, everything all at once. This was what I had been searching for most of my life for. A place to belong as a proud mutant, the ability to hold my pride, and a family that would love me. I had all three here with Charles Xavier.

"I accept. I will become part of the X-men. I will make you proud and pay you back for everything you've given to me." He smiled at me, a kind fatherly smile full of approval, and wheeled from behind his desk to come over to me.

"Good. Then let us get everything set up and done."

* * *

It was about a week later that I was roaming the halls, unable to sleep. Some nights I just was so awake and alive, it was hard for me to sleep. Instead of tossing and turning all night I'd taken to walking about to see if anyone else was up and stay with them until I could fall asleep. Fortunately for me, I heard voices coming from the kitchen and I walked towards the door and looked in, only to see Logan and Jean together.

Logan was close to Jean and even from here I could feel the tension, see it in their stances and facial expressions. I just instinctively knew this was a moment that shouldn't be intruded on. I went to leave but Jean finally spoke.

"Logan," she whispered in pain. I wanted to leave, I truly did, but I couldn't help but watch like a guilty girlfriend.

"But Jean!" he exclaimed, closing the distance between them and pulling her to him in a swift move. Her eyes widened at him. "I love you!" He quickly stated and went to kiss her. She immediately pulled away and put distance between them.

"I'm married, Logan, and I love my husband. You have to find someone else," she ordered firmly.

"No one else-"

"Don't, Logan!" Her voice stopped in what he was going to say, but my heart sank as I realized it. No one would compare to Jean. No one was good enough except for Jean. I had known it all along, but to hear it like this? I felt my heart breaking and crushing into tiny pieces. "There is someone out there better than me that loves you, Logan. You have to realize I can never love you like you want me to." He flinched as if her words cut him. "Please, Logan. Move on from me. Find someone else because I love Scott and I will not leave him."

He stretched his hand out to touch her and she quickly moved away. I felt his pain as his hand dropped back to his side. His pain was just as deep as my own and in that moment I would have given him to Jean and let him go completely. I loved him too much to not let him go to Jean, and that was what it seemed like I would have to do. I had no hope here, nothing at all.

"Katherine! What are you doing here?" My head snapped up at my name and I immediately threw on the fakest smile I could muster at the moment.

"I can't sleep again, you know me. I was just taking a walk and wanted a drink before I went out in the gardens. Should I come back?"

"No, we're done here." I saw Logan flinch and pain swamped every fiber of my being. I quickly grabbed a random drink from the fridge and made to dash out, but Jean linked her arm through mine. "I want to walk with you tonight. Is that all right?" she asked.

"Sure," I managed to mutter.

She led me out of the room and through hallways, and finally outside to the gardens. I sat down on the stone bench surrounded on all sides of the house, hidden away to where no one could see me, and finally let loose the tears that had been threatening. Jean wrapped her arms around me.

"It will be all right, Katherine."

"No, it won't," I sobbed back. "No one is good enough but you, Jean. Not even me."

* * *

The next week was pure hell for me. I knew the love I had for Logan wouldn't go away any time soon and watching him walk around like a zombie had my heart clenching every time. I wanted to make his pain go away, I wanted to be there for him, but I couldn't, because I wasn't good enough for him. And that hurt as much as seeing his pain. I was rejected before I even had a chance.

Everyone saw my sadness and each person tried their best to cheer me up. Bobby took me to one of the upper rooms, filled it with food and booze, and made a movie night out of it. Storm took me flying through a thunderstorm. Jason actually read me a story making sure his accent was pronounced when he did so. But Jean, who knew why I was feeling like this, actually helped me the most.

She told the Professor.

The Professor had promptly sent me out on my first mission as an X-men (so he claimed, I knew it was just to get me out of the house). I was to look for signs of a human group targeting mutants. I was in a train station late at night, finally resting after a full day of just wandering about aimlessly. I paid attention for the violent hatred, but also was enjoying the time away from the mansion. It was my home but the Professor had been right; I needed to get away from all the drama for a bit.

I let my head fall back over the bench and sighed. I needed to find this resistance cell but was in no hurry to do so. In fact I wanted to spend more time just wandering around. The Professor had been kind enough to forward enough money for the mission and would take it out of my wages later, so this was my first time going out into the world with the ability to take care of myself. It was a heady feeling and gave me confidence. I was no longer the homeless mutant from a year before. I was a class two, perhaps three on occasion that I could manage it, and I was growing into myself.

"Get on the train, you filthy fucking mutant." My head snapped up as I thought it was directed at me, but my eyes narrowed when I saw a young girl surrounded by four burly men.

From here I could see her catlike eyes flit around in fear and knew that she was, in fact, a mutant. One of the things Jean had taught me was how to distinguish between human and now it was definitely coming in handy. I saw the guns and knives pointed toward the girl and she grudgingly got on the train. With a sadistic smile on my face, I got on the train with them. Instead of going right like they did, I went left but sat down facing them.

I watched them the whole ride but they did nothing to the poor golden haired girl between them. She was silent because she knew that no humans would come to her rescue. Her eyes betrayed her every few seconds; her terror was making her powers rise to the surface to protect her. If she cried for help she might be executed on the train and she was smart enough to know it.

When they got off the train, I followed them, but not too closely. When they turned to see if anyone was following them, I influenced them to look away from me, to not notice me. Another gift from Jean. When they went down back alleys to a metal door, they were let in. Once the door shut I knocked and when the man opened the slat to look who it was, he stared into my eyes and that was all it took. The door unlocked as the brainwashed man stepped to the side. I nodded at him once and he locked the door behind me. I then made him faint and sighed in agitation. Now came the fun part.

_Professor, do you hear me?_

**I do, Katherine. Have you seen any evidence of a human terrorist group?**

_Actually, I have. I'm in their base right now and they're about to torture or kill a little mutant girl. I can't let her be hurt, Professor._ The thought 'what if it had been me' wasn't said, but I knew that he would know that's what I had been thinking in following her here.

**I see. Do not kill the humans. **

_But Professor, if I don't, they'll kill another mutant as soon as I leave!_

**I will track you and lock on to the humans around you. Keep her safe and alive until I can hold onto their minds.**

_Professor, there's like fifteen of them in here. I can sense them. _

**Thank you for your concern, but I will have Cerebro's help. I will hold them and reprogram their brain to not be disposed to hatred against mutants. **

_If you say so. _Childish screams echoed hauntingly around me and I moved in one fluid motion. _They've started torturing her, Professor. I have to go now._

**Go. I am starting Cerebro now.**

I ran to the main chamber and what I saw made me stop in disgust. The walls were lined with torture devices, each bloody from what I suspected were mutants. The sick bastards hadn't even cleaned the blood that had pooled off the floor. I knew what some of the devices were but some were foreign to me and I wanted them to stay that way.

My gaze finally found the golden haired child from before. Her wrists were tied and she hung from a hook, her legs also tied. She was flailing as one of the men sliced at her body tauntingly with a Kabar knife. She screamed in pain and desperation, her body flickering and rippling with random colors and textures. She had to be a shifter of some type.

"You idiots picked on the wrong girl today," I stated, bringing the men's attention to me. I stood in the doorway, a hand on my hip, a dark, cocky smile on my face, and snapped my fingers. The men flew away from the girl and slammed hard into the walls behind him.

Fortunately I was never one for gloating. I darted to the girl and lifted her off the hook. I gathered her into my arms as gunfire erupted from around us. I felt pain blossom in my arms and back and leapt high into the air, catching myself on a rafter.

"I gotcha, kid. Just stay as still as you can."

I felt her nod against my chest and I leapt away from the beam as gunfire pinged the metal around us. I kept up my deadly game of cat and mouse, catching one more bullet before the guns stopped and dropped to the floor. I looked down to see the glazed stares of the men and let myself drop to the ground graecefully. I undid the straps as the men all fell to the ground at once.

**Done. Are you hurt Katherine?**

_Yes, I've been shot multiple times. I can't tell you how many, but it hurts, Professor._

**Storm, Jean, Cyclops and Logan are all on route in the X-Jet. Stay conscious until then.** I felt the weakness in my arms as they dropped to my sides.

_I don't know how long that's going to be Professor._

"You're hurt," The kid stated.

"Yeah, a bit," I said. "Are you hurt, kid?"

"No. You blocked them all."

"Kid, I'm going to pass out," I told her. The pressure of the tight leather of the X-men suit was enough to staunch the bleeding, but I had been shot too many times. "There will be people coming for me, people dressed like I am. They're all mutants. Let them know that you're a mutant and ask to come with us. Okay?"

"I can do that," she replied solemnly.

"Good kid." I ruffled her hair and smiled at her even as I began to fall to the floor and into unconsciousness. My last thought was that she had the face of an angel.

* * *

"She's waking up."

"Good. How are her vitals?"

"Stable. She seems to be holding on well after the transfusion."

"There's no complications?"

"None. She's reacting well. Katherine, can you hear us?"

The voices were familiar but jumbled together. I blinked and tried to clear my fuzzy mind.

"You're under heavy medication for the pain, Katherine."

"Shot," I murmured.

"Yes, you were. We got to you just in time."

"Kid?"

"She's safe, Katherine. Don't talk right now. Just rest. I'm going to give you another dose of medicine to put you back under."

I couldn't rest until I had seen the golden haired kid and looked around, unable to shift or move my body. Instead of seeing the kid, my eyes landed on a hazy image of Logan. He was standing beside my bed.

"Leather man. Yummy." I snorted at my own idea of a joke and swooned as I felt the medicines kick in. "Never enough." And with that, I slipped back under yet again.

* * *

I woke this time to find myself back in my own bed again, feeling much better. I shifted and found that my pain was minimal and finally managed to sit up.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice growled at me in anger. I looked to it and saw Logan, who was sitting beside of my bed. He was wearing simple sweats and a t-shirt which meant he had been here for quite some time, if not through the night.

"How long was I out?" I asked him.

"A few days. Beast gave you one of his potions that he created. It healed most of the wounds but not all of them."

"Oh. How's the kid?"

"The Professor's getting her a room here. She's fine."

"Good."

It was silent for a few moments, but I could feel the tension bubbling from Logan and knew there was some bitching about to come from him. But why? I hadn't done anything wrong yet. And if I knew him, he wasn't going to wait long until he tore into me.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" There it was. "You go on your first mission without fucking backup? What idiot does that?"

"The Professor sent me on a mission-"

"Fuck what he did, why didn't you ask for backup like a normal goddamn person? It was your first time!"

"Well, I thought I could handle a simple reconnaissance mission of my own," I snapped back, getting irritated at the rapid fire he was giving me. "I was fine until they had kidnapped a kid."

"And instead of calling for back up, you follow them and decide to storm the fucking castle and be the goddamned hero of the day?"

"Look here asshole, you're right; it was my first mission. I should have called for backup, but the Professor did for me when he knew where I was. So don't get all fucking irritated with me when I didn't know!"

"Oh, that's an excuse, you didn't know. So because you didn't know you endangered the life of a kid and get yourself shot so many times you nearly die from bloodloss before we even get there to save your ass?"

"Oh fuck you, Logan!" I shot back. "I did what I had to do, and now I know for next time, so shove off you arrogant bastard! The Professor had his own reasons to send me!"

"And why would that be?" he asked hotly.

"Because I needed time to my fucking self and it was just a goddamned recon mission!"

"So you get yourself shot because you're a child and need alone time."

My anger skyrocketed at him and I felt the room begin to shake with the force of my anger. Logan saw but it didn't deter from his own anger at me.

"I don't know what exactly I saw in you, Logan. I don't know why I even shed tears over you if this is how you thought of me this entire fucking time. No one is as good as Jean, are they? definitely not a cheaper clone of the woman. I'll never be good enough for you." My voice was dangerously low, dangerously violent.

But Logan was stunned to silence. He just stared at me and I realized what exactly I had told him in the heat of the moment, but the words were said. Now he knew.

"You're saying...I was the man you liked?"

"Liked being the key word. I will not be treated like a goddamned invalid or looked down on. So get the hell out of my room, you asshole."

He stood but instead of leaving, he took a step toward me. I did the only thing I could do to defend myself; I took the multitude of pillows around me and began to throw them at him. He simply battered them away as he advanced on me. When he got in range I began to throw punches but he easily caught my hands and held them above my head. My eyes spit fire and anger at him but he stared at them intently.

"All this time you were the woman that liked me. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you love Jean! I'm not going to say anything when I know it wasn't going anywhere. She's everything I'm not! She's beautiful, she is a level five, and she's the most gentle, caring woman I know. Of course you'd love her."

"Do you know why I'm so fucking furious right now?" I rolled my eyes at his question.

"Because I was a fucking idiot who didn't call for backup-" I was silenced with a kiss and that kiss stunned me so much I froze. I did nothing with his lips pressed against mine; I couldn't manage a single thought. Even when he pulled away I was silent, stripped of my anger.

"I'm so fucking furious because the woman that I wanted decided to go off on a mission and almost die, when I could have been there to help her."

"But you love Jean."

"I thought I did. But I have never been so goddamned terrified when I heard you were dying. That's what pisses me off."

"So you're saying..."

"Do I need to say it woman? I want you, not Jean. If I have to convince you, I'll do it." Slowly the realization of what he was saying was sinking in, and hope was blooming inside of my chest.

As if not to spook him or ruin the moment, I softly told him, "I'm really stubborn."

"I know," he stated with a sexy smirk. "That's what I'm counting on."

He swooped down for another kiss and this one I eagerly accepted from him. He let my arms go and they wrapped around him and my hands buried themselves in his shirt and hair, pulling him closer as the kiss intensified, each of us telling each other with our lips the passion we had been holding back for so long. When we broke apart he touched my swollen lips with his thumb.

"Do you know what this means?" he asked me finally.

"What?"

"I don't share. You're mine now."

I mirrored the smirk I had seen on his face so many times before.

"That's what I'm counting on," I replied back with an arrogant confidence.


	2. Merc with a Mouth

Okay, so, I finally thought of a good second chapter to this "one-shot". Firstly, I figured I'd put this small author's note in here, but here it goes.

Firstly, this will be a hodgepodge of the recent X-men movie, X-men 2: Rise of Apokalypse video game, and a bit of the comics strewn in between. I have a boyfriend who I sat to next to in the Wolverine movie - to my utter stupidity - and got a little sketch of the comics and how the movie didn't "portray" certain mutants right, or something. Of course, I had to shush him because Hugh Jackman was totally naked and I needed to concentrate, but I caught some of the X-men lowdown. So, regardless, most of my knowledge comes from various sources, so don't quote me as right. Wikipedia and movies can only carry me so far...

...

...

Hugh Jackman was so freaking hot...don't you agree?

XD

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

"Why are we here?" I muttered, angrily kicking a rock from the road. Colossus looked over at me and I ignored the stare, laying against our car on the side of the road. "I'm bored. I want action." Around us, people milled about, all celebrating Mardi Gras. It was the famous week, and I couldn't even celebrate since I was technically "on duty".

"What?" Colossus asked, clearly shocked.

"Ew, not like that! Look at all these men! Disgusting!" Dirty looks were thrown my way, and I glared at all the males. "Don't even try to deny it, you're all freaking wasted anyways." I sighed and let my head fall on top of the car, wishing for peace from the noise blaring all around us. "Why are we waiting?" I complained. "Why not just go in and ask him?"

"Because we're not sure he is even here," the Russian replied, watching the bar for any signs of our prey. "And Storm has not given us the order to move in." I banged my head softly against the car, groaning in frustration.

"She sent me out in the middle of one of my most favorite times of year, only to be put on duty and prohibited from alcohol. What does she take me for, a saint?" Colossus didn't answer me, but instead, the comlink in my ear came to life.

"Colossus, Barrage, you're clear. Go in." I immediately bounded off of the car and almost ran inside of the bar in my haste to complete the mission. Colossus caught me, a gentle hold on my arm, and I contained my enthusiasm and let him go first. As he walked inside, he drew a few glances, but both of us were generally ignored for more...wasted...fare. I scanned the room and sensed the mutant in question by a gambling table. I gestured to Colossus who nodded and walked over to the mutant. I watched the door, cautious, but neither of us didn't expect any trouble. I turned to look at my partner, who managed to get our prey away from the gambling table with little fuss. The man gestured to me and I followed the two men to a room in the back of the bar.

"Well, if it isn't the X-men," he drawled with his Cajun accent. "What can I do for you?" he asked, looking in my direction. The double meaning wasn't lost on either Colossus or myself, so Colossus took the lead in the interrogation.

"We need your help. We have come across an enemy known as Apocalypse."

"And you'd like my help in beating him, I presume?" Colossus nodded.

"The Brotherhood and X-men have teamed up...and we need all the help we can get," I added.

"Well, who is this Apocalypse? I haven't heard of him."

"That's because you're in Mardi Gras," I retorted. "And I'm not allowed to drink," I began, pouting at Colossus. Of course, he ignored me once again, and concentrated on the mission at hand.

"He is a mutant dating back at least 5,000 years. He has a genetically altered military, as well as robotic, at his disposal. Also, he has captured Professor X and Polaris."

"That's not good news," Gambit pondered, spinning an Ace of Spades idly above his right hand. "I suppose I should help. After all, we're friends, right?"

"Right," I agreed.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

"But I wasn't allowed to drink!" I protested, floating at the edge of the bed. "It was torture, I'm telling you! Storm just didn't like the fact that I couldn't find Deadpool, and she's out to get me!"

"She's not that devious," my Logan replied, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Aw, come on! She knows I've always wanted to go to Mardi Gras, but she made Havoc come pick me up in the X-Jet and wouldn't let me stay."

"Good for her," he replied, placing his hands on the back of his head.

"Not you too," I complained. "You know I always wanted to go to Mardi Gras!"

"To get drunk and flash people? Sounds stupid."

"It's the thought that counts!" I weakly defended. "And the beer in here is horrible...ugh."

With that, I closed my eyes and continued to hover in the air, Jean's training firmly ingrained into my nightly ritual. Through her death, Logan had found acceptance and closure, though I knew he still thought of her often. I had to admit, I was indeed jealous of my old teacher, but in a dark corner of my heart, I knew that his feelings for her would never change. She was his first love, and for making him happy, I couldn't break the hold her memory held with him.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked, noting the quiet, serious atmosphere in the room around us.

"I'm going to have to leave," I muttered, opening my eyes to stare at the ceiling. "In two days, if I remember correctly. I don't want to go. Storm knows I hate traveling."

"What?" Logan snarled, sitting up to stare at me. I looked at him and saw the intensity of his gaze. He had been protective since the death of Jean, though I didn't mind for the most part. "Where?"

"Canada," I answered, my voice soothing. "She wants me to search for Deadpool."

"Didn't she tell you? He's being sent over here tonight." With that news, my concentration broke, and I fell to the floor in a heap.

"What the hell?" I cried out. "She's been making me worry for nothing!" With my outburst, Logan calmly laid back down and I could literally see the tension leaving his body. I smiled gently through my anger as I felt little butterflies skitter through my stomach, but rose from the floor and went to the door.

"Behave," Logan commanded as I exited our room.

"Oh go to hell," I muttered, slamming the door behind me. I had to admit, slamming the door always made me feel better. I walked down the hall, smiling at various friends, and made my way to Storm's office. I sensed her inside along with another mutant, who I assumed was Deadpool, and grinned as I opened the door with my mind. I casually strolled inside, ignoring the look from the Canadian operative, and smiled sweetly at Storm.

"Barrage, this is Deadpool. She's been the one that attempted to contact you a week ago." The operative looked at me, and I could see the appreciation in his gaze. However, his head was covered by a red hood that matched his red, skintight body suit, which threw my own persual off.

"You're a hard man to find," I generally complimented. The man was literally a ghost; he left no trace from any operation.

"Well if I had known it was you trying to find me, I might have rented a hotel room." I snorted at the invitation and slid my hands into my jean pockets.

"Nice swords," I stated, changing the soon to be awkward subject.

"I bought them at a pawn shop in Canada. Really good swords, but the price was just a tad bit high. I mean, they're swords." I deadpanned.

"Doesn't your government provide you with weapons?"

"They would, but the pawn shop sold them cheaper, so I had to go there myself. Isn't it hard to find good service these days?"

"Deplorable manners," I agreed, amused by the sarcasm.

"We've called you here-" Storm interjected, "To ask for help defeating Apocalypse. I assume you've been briefed?"

"Big evil scary mutant was abused as a child, so he grows up with an inferiority complex, tries to compensate, and eventually wants to take over to the world to satisfy his bruised and fragile ego? Yeah. I know about him." I began to laugh, ignoring the mild reproach from Storm. "My government wants in so America can owe us a favor. So when can I join? I can provide an excellent resume, and I have plenty of character resources."

"No," Storm halted, a smile on her face. "That's quite all right. Barrage, since you're here, can you show Deadpool to his room?"

"Where's he staying?"

"Across from yours."

"Well, isn't that ironic?" he commented. I gestured to him and I opened the doors again with my mind, letting us both out. My anger at Storm was a thing of the past; this sarcastic mutant was sure to amuse me until we began to fight Apocalypse for real.

"So, why is your name Deadpool?"

"Because, when I joined Weapon X, everyone placed bets on when I was going to die. Needless to say, they lost miserably. I hope to send them letters soon, give them my well wishes."

"And I'm sure they'll send hitmen to kill you."

"Now why would they do that? It's just a letter."

"Just a letter? Oh I don't think so." We climbed the stairs to the boarding rooms, and I began to walk him down the hall. Though his manner and body posture were "easygoing", I saw his eyes absorb everything around him, and he never completely relaxed. "So why did they send you down here anyway? Get the short end of the stick?"

"Well, of course, I'm the best." I rolled my eyes at his arrogance, but he continued. "And another reason involves a nine iron and a dog named Fluffy."

"You didn't!" I cried out, scandalized.

"Well, it didn't kill it, just...knocked it out. Needless to say, the admiral wasn't pleased with my behavior. For some odd reason, I was sent to the Yukon for recon a short while later, and never knew why..." Finally, we reached his door, and I opened it to reveal his room.

"So," he began, as he stepped inside and took it all in. "You coming back to my room later tonight? I promise I won't bite, and, you won't be needing clothes, I can assure you." I laughed, rolling my eyes, and opened my mouth to refuse when the door behind me burst open. Logan immediately walked to me and crowded my body with his own, sending a message to Deadpool. "Well, well. Wolverine. Haven't seen you in a long time." Taken aback, I turned to Logan only to see him staring at Deadpool fervently, his eyes cloudy, as if he was trying to remember.

"Do I know you?" Logan finally asked, coming out of his reverie.

"It's Wade, remember? We were special ops together, you know, with Stryker." Logan shook his head, eyeing Wade, waiting for any sudden moves to give him an opportunity to attack. Instead of letting him do so, I placed a placating hand on Logan's arm and pulled him inside Wade's room. I shut the door behind us and nodded to Wade to continue. "So it's true. You did lose your memory."

"How did you know Logan?" I asked.

"He served in the military with me. Him and Viktor were really inseperable at the time, kinda Brokeback Mountainish-"

"Get on with it," I interrupted.

"Right. Anyways, Logan went AWOL, and Viktor went batshit, destorying everything and hunting us down. I heard that Logan eventually got drafted into Weapon X, and I lost his trail then. Years later, I heard he joined the X-men." With the short explanation done, Deadpool shrugged. "That's all I know." Instead of pressing the matter, Deadpool let it drop, and I quickly pulled Logan out of the room and into ours so he could digest the information.

"Sabertooth and I..." he mused as he sat on the bed. "Brothers...I want you to read my mind." My eyes widened and I recoiled at the thought.

"You know what Xavier said! He said the mind will remember in time, when it can assimilate the information and feelings. Plus, I never did any of that. Jean never taught me, so I'd be flying blind and I could potentially damage memories. I don't want to take that chance."

"It's not your decision," Logan argued.

"The hell it isn't!" I shot back, my temper flaring to match his. "What if I damange your memories of me? When you woke up, what if you didn't remember me? That makes it my problem!"

"I want answers!" Logan snarled, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "I need to know, now." His eyes bore into my own, and it was then I knew that if I didn't do this for him, he would hate me forever. This was important to him; years of his life were missing, and closure was vital to his mental health. Suddenly weary, I nodded in acceptance.

"I'll do it. Lie on the bed, will you?" He released me slowly, allowing his fingers to skim across the red hand marks on my arms in apology, and did as I bade. I sat on his waist and placed my forehead onto his own. "This may feel uncomfortable," I began, placing my hands on his temples. "You cannot shy away from these memories. If you do, you could damage them beyond repair. You must accept them, whatever they are. I'll try to go gently."

"Start at Weapon X...when they put the adamantium in me."

"All right." I closed my eyes and connected to Logan's mind. Immediately, I felt the rush of adrenaline, combined with the emotions his brain had stored, and I was immediately swamped with anger and confusion. I had to fight to keep my own sanity; a mind merge was difficult to maintain. Locking down on his mind, I fought past the initial wave of emotions, and began to search through his memories. Most of his memories were of war, killing, and him merely fighting to stay alive. Viktor, or Sabretooth, was by his side in the earlier flashes of memories I glimpsed, and I realized Deadpool had indeed been truthful. I forged through the murky waters of the rough sketches of memory, and finally found what I was looking for.

_"Viktor! No!" Logan ran through the forest, her scent calling to him. Most of all, he smelled blood. Her blood. _

_"I'll be in your program." The man looked at Logan, victory in his eyes. _

_"Excellent."_

_"This is Weapon X. He has regenerative powers, and adamantium will be fused in his bone structure, creating the perfect weapon. As you all know, admirals, adamantium can cut through any metal. He's the perfect candidate for this procedure._

_"Wipe his memories," the same voice stated. "I don't want him to remember a thing."_

_A heartbeat sounded on the monitor, followed by another. _

_"I think he heard you." __Rage built inside of Logan, and he burst from the water, a feral scream splitting the air._

_"Thanks for letting me stay." __The old man smiled at him, and nodded. His wife came in behind him, a plate of food in her hands.__"Here, I made you some-" A shot through her forehead cut her in midsentence, and Logan could only stare, as shock paralyzed him. __The old man was next to be shot, and he fell to his knees, confusion written on his features. __Quickly, Logan ran for the old motorcycle stored in the shed, and turned in on. He drove for the door, and the barn exploded around him._

_"__It meant something to me too, Logan!" A feminine voice cried out. "They had my sister!"_

_"The kids are safe," Gambit stated, and Logan looked at him, confused. __"Do I know you?" he asked._

_"I love you, Wolverine."_

With that, I pulled out of his mind, pain and agony written on all of my features. Apparently as a side effect, emotions were transfered to both minds. I rolled off of Logan and curled up into a ball, tears leaking from my eyes as my body spasmed in an uncontrollable panic attack. I cried out as the pain from physical and mental wounds coursed through me, and I couldn't control any of it. I began to throw up mental blocks as Jean had taught me, but instead, I was rolled onto my back, and Logan grabbed my chin in a ferocious grip.

"What's going on?" he asked fiercely, fully in protection mode. I couldn't form any words; I just sobbed incoherently and tried to fight the hold on me. Flashes of his memories flittered through my own mind, and I could feel his pain and watched as he took the life of other soldiers. The graphic nature of his kills left me physically sick to my stomach, and my mental powers finally kicked in. Logan was thrown off me and into the wall behind him while my body somehow made it to the bathroom to be sick. Over and over the pain coursed through my body and I continued to feel the heartache and anguish left with his memories. Finally, after what seemed like hours later, his memories dissapated, leaving me back in my own mind once again.

"Logan?" I called out weakly.

"I'm here. What the hell happened?" I relayed what I had seen and the information left Logan frowning. "The man was Stryker...but I don't remember the woman."

"I felt that she was important to you." I admit I was jealous, but since she hadn't come back to him, I figured that something had happened to keep her away.

"Maybe." With that, he turned to look at me. "Are you all right to move?" His gruff tone made me smile. Not being bossy had to be killing him.

"Yes." He picked me up and put me on the bed, letting me lay my head on his shoulder.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

I was lying on a field of grass, resting in the gentle sunlight. The sky around me was a clear blue and a soft breeze flowed around the meadow, ruffling my hair slightly. I held a wild rose in my hand and plucked it, watching out for the thorns on the stem. I threw it in the air, and let it twirl above me, and I smiled at the picture. I leaned up and saw Logan walking toward me, dressed only in leather pants. I smiled seductively at him and let my hair fall down around my eyes for a wild untamed look. Logan smirked at me and continued to walk over to me, complete and utter confidence evident in every step he took. He was so masculine and so damned sexy that I could just-

"Katherine!" With a pop, my dream shattered, and my head flew from the desk and I blinked furiously to clear the sleep from my eyes.

"Whatzgoingon?" I slurred before yawning.

"We've decided to go to New Avalon," Storm replied, apparently holding off her disproval of my behavior.

"Why?" She cut her eyes at me and I placed my head in my hand. "All right, all right. I'll ask Logan later." My boyfriend in question was leaning up against the wall, watching me with hooded eyes. The older mutants around me varied in reaction, but no one scolded me. That showed me the severity of the situation.

"Good. Now, Havoc will fly us to New Avalon in the X-Jet. I expect everyone to be prepared in an hour." With that, everyone stood and walked out of the room, and I tried to sneak out with them. "And you, Barrage, will stay." I cursed silently under my breath and plopped back into my desk like a reluctant child held against her will. "What do you remember?" she asked as everyone left the room.

"We're going to New Avalon, a place in Anartica that's like a rainforest, to find evidence of Apocalypse's motives or something and...I fell asleep."

"Did you hear why it's like a rainforest?" Storm asked patiently, the teacher in her allowing her to deal with me calmly.

"Because of some alien like technology. I didn't get the specifics."

"Well...I guess it's not important. For now, we are going to explore the immediate area, and I want you on the recon team." She knew how to punish me, that's for sure.

"Yes ma'am," I said dutifully, hanging my head.

"However, I will be sending Logan with you, and I expect both of you to be on your best behavior."

"Yes ma'am."

Storm sighed, then pointed to the door.

"Go," she said.

"Yes ma'am!" I bolted for the door and exited the room before Storm could heap any other punishments on me. I ran for my room and jumped inside, expecting to see Logan. When he didn't appear, I frowned. It wasn't like him to not be somewhat prepared for a mission, and I was sure he was going to chew me out for sleeping. I shrugged. I wasn't going to ask for any more trouble, that's for sure. I went to the closet and dragged out a travel bag that Storm had bought for me, and began to tear through my clothes to gather necesities for the trip. Most of the time I'd be wearing my X-men suit, but it was good to have backup. After clothes came toiletries, and after my frantic packing, I flopped down on the bed.

I glanced at the clock beside of my bed, and my eyebrows furrowed. It had been a good twenty minutes, and there was still no sight of Logan whatsoever. This was odd, even for him. By now, he should be trying to con me into packing for him. Finally, I sat up and got into a medative position. I closed my eyes and spread out my senses, searching for Logan's brain pattern. Finally, I found him by Jean's grave and I withdrew immediately, giving him privacy. This would be the first time he would be away from visiting Jean's grave since she had died, and I felt a pang of melancholy. Why wasn't he with me? Would I always compete with my dead teacher for his affections? Would I always come second?

I shook my head. I couldn't let this affect me, especially in the light of such an important job in front of me. There would no doubt be enemies waiting for us in New Avalon and I couldn't afford to be distracted...no matter how much I wanted the issue resolved. It would have to wait. I walked into my closet, and quickly changed into my suit. I took a look in the mirror, fluffed the collar, and gathered what semblance of control I could before grabbing my bag and heading towards the X-jet.

"Kat!" I turned to see the other Kat running toward me, and I shut the door behind me.

"Walk with me," I told the girl. She fell into step beside of me and I glanced at her, only to see her eyes radiating concern. "What's wrong?"

"Take care of Bobby and Colossus for me...will you?"

"You know I will," I promised with a lopsided smile. "I always do. They need someone to do it for them, ya know?" Kat laughed softly, but the concern for her two friends didn't vanish from her eyes. "Trust me," I said simply, leaving her in the hall behind me. Besides my own insecurities with Logan, I had to look out for the rest of my team, so my relationship had to be put on the backburner for now. I simply jumped down the stairway and landed nearly in stride with Deadpool.

"Well now, where have I seen you before?"

"Very funny."

"If I said you had a hot body, would you hold it against me?"

I grinned at the age old line and shot him a side glance.

"Deadpool, old buddy, I'm just trembling in desire for you."

"Now that's what I like to hear. What we need now is some whipped cream, cherries, chocolate, and toast."

"What?" I asked, taken completely by surprise. "The hell is the toast for?"

"Well, when a man loves a woman-"

I cut him off with my hand.

"I take back the question. Please, for the love of god, don't answer it." Deadpool grinned, not put off in the least.

"You just ask me about it later," he said, shifting his bag slightly over his shoulder. "For now I'll content myself with my fantasies."

Wisely, I held the question on the tip of my tongue and Deadpool laughed, knowing what I was going to ask.

"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked, looking around. "Wouldn't he be all up in arms by now? What a letdown." I smiled slightly, but fell back into my contemplative mood.

"He's with Jean," I answered seriously. Deadpool, taking the hint, sobered and glanced at me.

"Who's Jean?"

I was quiet for a moment, debating on whether to take him into my confidence.

"Whatever you tell me, I won't repeat."

"Is that a promise?" I asked, amused.

"When a beautiful lady's in trouble, how can I do anything but help?" I laughed once and sighed.

"He loved Jean first. I've always come second."

"Loved?" Deadpool asked, looking straight ahead. I was glad for the monotone voice, because I couldn't deal with sympathy right now.

"She died. He...had to kill her."

"So?"

"How can I compete with a perfect memory?" As I asked the question, I felt a slight weight fall from my chest and I was glad to have finally voiced the question. Deadpool was silent, and I took the initiative and continued. "Even when we were dating, I could still see the looks he gave her when he thought I wasn't looking. If Jean wasn't married, he'd be with her, not with me. I was the fallback girl, but I figured as long as I had him at my side, I wouldn't care."

"And you were wrong," he stated.

"Yeah. I want all of him. But...I guess I owe Jean something too. She taught me everything I know."

"Did she love him?" I lowered my head, looking at my feet.

"I don't honestly know. I mean...I guess she wanted him to a point, but she was loyal to Scott, and I think she did love him. But...I don't know."

"So she loved him?"

"In her own way, I believe."

I was grateful for Deadpool at that moment, forcing me to come to conclusions that I had always forced from my mind. The realizations hurt, each one slicing a deeper wound into my heart, but this had gone on long enough. I needed to realize what had happened, and what would happen.

"So ask yourself. Do you love him?"

"Yes," I replied, knowing the answer intimately.

"Does he love you?"

At that, I went quiet and I could feel the sorrow beating through my body. I shut my eyes and stoppped, pressing my fingers into the corners of my eyes in an effort to control myself. At once, Deadpool's hand began to massage my neck, and I immediately felt calmer.

"Until you know the answer, or the idiot proves it, you won't move on. That's your problem."

I was quiet for a moment, just letting his fingers work pure magic.

"Jesus, you give a great massage."

"Oh, just imagine what else I can do," he responded, catching onto my withdrawal. "Now get moving, or else I'll be forced to-"

"No. Don't say it!" I cried, slapping my hand over his mouth. I felt his lecherous grin, and I found myself grinning in response. "You know how to cheer a girl up."

"Well-"

"Take the compliment or leave it," I stated, cutting him off.

"I know when to cut my losses," he replied casually, walking toward the X-Jet, leaving me laughing behind him.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

I strapped myself into the back chairs, bored and ready to go. Granted, we still had about ten minutes before take off, but Deadpool and I were just ready to get this over with. He was cleaning his swords at the time Logan walked in, and he glanced up at me. I met his gaze, then turned to Logan, a smile ready for him.

"Hey, you get packed all right?" I asked, trying to act normal.

"Yeah," Logan replied gruffly, walking past me to stuff his luggage in the compartment beside of us. Another knowing look passed between Deadpool and I, and he nodded once, telling me to continue talking.

"That's good. I was going to pack for you, but I figured I'd let you be responsible for once," I said, smiling brightly at him, like I did whenever I was teasing him.

"Yeah. I made it."

"I saved you a seat," I said, patting to the one on my right.

"Storm wants me up front."

"Oh, all right then." Like the pro I was, I covered my true emotions, and gave him a soft smile as I stood. I walked over and went to kiss him, and he let me, though I felt no physical or emotional response from him. He just let me kiss him and didn't respond in any way. Hurt beyond words, I turned quickly to hide the sudden raw pain in my eyes and looked to Deadpool in desperation.

"I'll keep you company," Deadpool joked, gesturing to the seat I had stood from. "I'll tell you about a man and his swords. Go on, _sit down_." Through the sense of betrayal, I heard the implied command and forced my numb body to move.

Like I had been shown throughout my childhood, I believed everyone was going to betray me at some point, and I had to fight my natural instinct to think that Logan was totally betraying me for a dead woman. It was one of my flaws, but with little moods or inconsistancies, I always thought the worst of people. Xavier had indeed helped me reduce the instinct, but it could never be fully purged from my system.

"I'll see you when we land, Logan," I told him, averting my face as I strapped myself in once again. To my relief, my voice was normal with only a faint tremor in the undertones. I knew Logan wouldn't pick it up, especially when he was thinking of other things.

"Yeah." I heard him walk off and squeezed my eyes again. My worst fears came to life as I felt tears leak down my fingers. I hated to show weakness in front of everyone, and I was glad most of the mutants were still loitering outside of the X-Jet. I felt cold steel under my chin and it was lifted to make me look at Deadpool. I opened my eyes and looked down the sword, to see his eyes. He was serious, yet emotionally distant.

"Suck it up and cry later," he whispered, aware Logan had exceptional hearing. The point of his sword pierced my skin, causing blood to dribble down my throat, and I gulped. "Are you not Jean's protege? Would she want you to be crying right now?" I shook my head. "That's what I thought. Stop being a woman and focus."

Like Deadpool had intended, the sexist comment caused my temper to flare.

"Hey, women can do just as well as men," I shot back. The sword retreated and Deadpool chuckled.

"There's my little dove."

"D...d...dove?" I sputtered. "That's a ridiculous nickname!"

"Well it's yours now, little dove."

"Stop calling me that."

"Is he harrassing you, ma cher?" I turned to see Gambit enter the X-Jet and I smiled at him.

"He's calling me horrible nicknames," I complained. Rogue appeared at Gambit's side and smiled as she heard my comment.

"What's the nickname?" she asked.

"Little dove," Deadpool answered before I could stop him. I shot him a glare, grateful at his skillfull manipulation of the situation...even though the nickname was stupid.

As we argued among our fellow mutants, everyone eventually came aboard and seated themselves, ready for the flight at hand. Though the atmosphere was generally relaxed, all of us were worried about Apocalypse, and what his true motives truly were.


	3. Storming the Hospital

Okay, so finally! The third chapter. Thanks to all who have stuck with me this far in making this story, and thank you to all who have messaged and taken the time to review ^.^

I know this is kind of short, but I'll have more as soon as possible.

_"Of course I love you. Why do you have to ask me all the time?" Logan asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest. Again, we were in the field where I always dreamt of, where it was comforting to me. _

_"But you love Jean, not me! I was just convenient!" I cried out, my hands clenched at my sides. "I'm just like her! The same powers! When we sleep, do you dream of her instead of me? Do you see her face instead of mine?"_

_"No, I don't," he growled out. "You aren't the same, anyways. She was Jean, and you are Catherine. I said I loved you, and I meant it." His gruff manner and obvious discomfort eased my anxiety, and I smiled at him._

_"Is it always that hard admitting your feelings, Logan?" I asked on a half laugh._

_Suddenly, the dream changed, and I was no longer in the field with my boyfriend. I was in a hospital, looking at a man in a hospital bed. His eyes were closed and his body still, but I felt him watching me, as if he could see me quite clearly._

_"I can see you, my dear Catherine__**.**__" My eyes widened at the voice in my head._

_"Pro...professor?" I looked around the room, and saw nothing._

_"I am right here...in this body."_

_"But, you died! Jean killed you, and Logan said he saw you die!"_

_"Sometimes the eye can deceive, Catherine."_

_"Yeah...b...but...I...uh..."_

__

"Catherine, I need your help." I looked up at the man lying on the bed and shut my gaping mouth. "I am in this body, trapped inside of his mind by the medicines pumping through my system. If I am to regain consciousness, I must be able to take over this brain completely, without their neurotransmitter inducing medicines inside of me. I need you to come and pull these wires out of me.

_"I can do that, professor," I stated with a slight nod. "Where are you?" Suddenly, a nurse walked in, flustered. In her hand, she held a clipboard, and in the other, a syringe._

_"_Oh my, I forgot to give this to you; I could have sworn I had, oh! Sara's going to fire me, I just know it!"

_"__Hurry, Professor!" The nurse placed the clipboard on his bed, and began to push the liquid in the syringe into the IV in the professor's hand._

_"I was transferred to New York, New York, in Mount Sinai Medical Center."_

_"Got it!" I could feel the connection weakening even as I felt a rivulet of blood start to pour from my nose. "Professor, I can't hold this connection much longer, and I promise I'll come and get you! I swear!"_

_"I know you will, Catherine. I'll be waiting for you." I felt dizzy and disoriented, and the room began to fade._

_"I'm coming professor! I swear!..._Professor!"

I snapped back to my senses, and realized why I had been dizzy. Logan was violently shaking me, and I could see the crowd of mutants around me.

"Good, she's awake. Kat, can you hear us?"

"Yeah, yeah I can," I mumbled, exhausted by the mental powers I had used.

"What happened? You were using your powers, weren't you?"

"I was talking with the professor...Storm, I was talking to the professor! He's alive! He talked to me!"

"No, he's dead Kat! You just had a dream!" Logan finally released me as Rogue handed me a tissue. I held it to my still bleeding nose even as I shook my head at Storm.

"No. He's alive. He's just being held prisoner-"

"That's enough!" Storm declared forcefully. "He's dead...Jean killed him! That's the last I want to hear of this. You have a mission ahead that will decide whether the world will continue to live or die. We MUST find out what Apocalypse is doing on New Avalon. Concentrate on the mission, Barrage." She deliberately gave my mutant name, most likely to inspire the severity of the situation.

Finally fed up with the situation, I wiped the blood from my nose and looked away from Storm. She took this as an agreement and moved back to the front of the X-Jet. Logan looked at me once more, then followed Storm. The rest of the mutants took their seats once more, each looking at me curiously. I ignored the stares and growled, fed up with the situation. I tore of my seatbelt, much to the surprise of most of the mutants.

"Now that's what I like to see," Deadpool stated with an adventurous grin. He too took off his seatbelt and got to his feet. He cracked his neck twice, then took me by the waist.

"Time to go!" He yelled, as I opened the door with my mind. The nosebleed started again, but I ignored the overuse of my powers for now.

"What the hell are you doing?" Logan yelled, tearing off his own seatbelt and began to charge to me. Deadpool and I both leaped from the jet as I held Logan still with my powers. As we fell, I closed the jet doors and created a power surge, which shut them for the entire trip.

"They can't get us from that way!" I yelled past the rushing wind in my ears.

"So, how are we going to land?" he called out, in only a slightly curious tone.

"You know...that's a good question!" I called back.

"Something tells me we should have thought this a little bit more before we jumped."

"You're telling me!"

Below, I could see the ground rising to meet us, and I finally released the jet from my mental hold.

"I can probably catch us!"

"You should try that!" he called back. As I began to concentrate, a poof beside of us made me open my eyes, and I saw Nightcrawler reaching for us. "You either take us to the ground, or I'm making you go back to the plane!" I cried out, feeling a bit foolish for forgetting about his teleporting powers.

"I believe he's alive too," he answered, wrapping his arms around us. In a moment, we found ourselves safely on a tall skyscraper. "I can help teleport you to where he is."

"He's in New York, New York."

"You know, I've always found that name ironic-" Before Deadpool could finish his sentence, Nightcrawler began to teleport us to our destination.

"There!" I pointed straight ahead. "I can feel his residual energy. He's there! I know it!"

"We're not getting in that way," Deadpool commented, his hands crossed over his chest.

"And why not?" I asked huffily. "It's a hospital. We walk in, see patient. End of story." He slapped the back of my head, his concentration focused on the building below.

"Look closer." I glared at him, but did as he asked. It was then that I saw the security guards.

"Security? What the hell do they need security for?"

"That's not hospital security. Looks like we got ourselves a politician inside."

"For the love of god, this is just getting ridiculous. First we have to jump out of a plane, then we had to teleport all the way here, and now we have to bash through security with just the three of-"

Deadpool cut me off by drawing his blades, and twirling around. As he sliced through thin air, a man appeared on the other side of the roof. Deadpool stopped, then held the sword at his side, ready to attack if the mutant made any sort of move.

"Who are you?" Nightcrawler asked, also in a battle stance.

"Quicksilver," he answered. "And I've been sent by Magneto to show you inside of the hospital."

"It's guarded by security, dumb shit."

"No it isn't," he argued, a sardonic smile on his lips. I growled low in my throat as I heard shots being fired behind us. "Truce?"

"Truce to save the Professor," I answered, elbowing Deadpool before he could be an idiot.

"Women," he said disdainfully before backflipping off of the building. I nodded at Quicksilver and followed Nightcrawler and Deadpool off of the building. As I neared the ground, I lifted my arms and used my powers to slow my fall. As I landed softly, I saw Sabretooth, Toad, and Scarlet Witch behind Magneto, who was currently holding all of the guns hostage in the air.

"You would think they would finally learn their lesson," Magneto commented. "Oh, hello X-men," he greeted. "Have you located Xavier?" Knowing Deadpool was an inch away from murder by being so casually ignored, I answered for him again.

"He's inside. I can feel his energy."

"Watch our exit," Magneto commanded before flinging the guns onto the roof of the hospital. Each of his mutants fanned out and began to defeat the weaponless security.

"Go have some fun, Deadpool." He was already in action before I had finished my sentence, and I smiled. He always had fun in combat. "Nightcrawler, come with me." He complied and followed Magneto and myself inside of the hospital, where the frightened nurses all cowered for cover.

"Do you know what name he's under?" I asked Magneto. He shook his head.

"No, but I'm quite sure he's taken over the body he had been studying."

"That's right." I replied.

"You!" He pointed at the nurse who we all knew was hiding behind the counter. "Where is the comatose patient? The one that has been under study?"

"I...I..don't..." she stuttered.

"Better answer him," I stated. "I'm not in the best of moods either."

I already had to jump out of a jet. So sue me for being a bitch.

"He...he's in..." I turned to the voice to our left and saw the flustered nurse from earlier before. "in...room 101."

"Now that wasn't quite so difficult, was it?" With that, Magneto swished away and Nightcrawler and I trailed him like two lost puppies.

"The energy's getting stronger," I commented to Magneto's back.

"So she was telling the truth. I never would have expected."

"She was the one in my vision, so I knew she was telling the truth."

"Visions my dear?" Magneto asked, stopping and turning to face me. Charles never said anything about visions." Before he could get any ideas, I waved my hands.

"No no no, I contacted Charles, well, he might have contacted me. I don't know. I mean, I was dreaming that I was in a field, and-"

"To the point," he interrupted.

"Right. He's being pumped with neurotransmitters, inhibiting him from taking over his brain. I don't know the specifics, but we have to pull the wires from him so he can take over the body."

"Do you have an exit?" Nightcrawler asked Magneto.

"Oh, of course we do." With the vague statement shimmering around us, he turned again and walked into Xavier's room in front of us. Nightcrawler looked at me and I shrugged. Whatever he had thought out, it had to be better than any of my half-brained plans. We followed him inside, where we saw Magneto holding his hand out above the Professor. All of the needles inside of him began to pull out, each dripping liquid from their tips.

"Now what?" Magneto asked me. I shrugged.

"We never really got that far. He just said pull the plug, so...yeah. Maybe it takes time for the drugs to go out of his system completely."

"Take him to the roof," Magneto commanded. Nightcrawler obliged and wrapped his arms around Xavier. He then disappeared with a slight pop and I turned toward Magneto.

"Your teacher is not dead." My mouth dropped from the unexpected comment. "She too, has been reborn. We currently have her under observation at New Avalon, so you will be reunited shortly." With that, he walked out, leaving me broadsided by this new development.

Jean was alive? Well son of a bitch. Storm and Logan were going to love hearing this little story.


	4. Meeting My Mentor

_Ways to permanetly screw up your day: By Catherine_

_1. Find out that the Professor is alive and be completely ignored._

_2. Jump out of the X-Jet knowing you were going to have a pissy boyfriend when he found you again._

_3. Find said Professor and meet Magneto, who tells you Jean is alive._

Could it get any worse? Seriously. Not that I wasn't glad that Jean was alive, persay, but knowing I was no longer going to have a boyfriend threw a serious wrinkle in things. Not only was I going to have to deal with all of the upcoming budding romance between the love of my life and Jean, I was going to have to do it without chocolate. Without chocolate!!!

"God, I should have known with her name. The Pheonix. Now what does it do, Catherine? It comes back to life! Wow! Who would have guessed!"

"Are you muttering to yourself again?"

"Sit down and rotate," I fired back at Deadpool, who entered the room.

"My my, aren't we touchy today."

"Go to hell."

"Oh, so you're not irritated, you're angry. Now tell Uncle Wade all about it," he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.

"Take your Dr. Phil tapes and shove them up your-"

"Now, now," Deadpool cautioned. "I came to tell you the X-Jet is waiting on the roof above us. Now before you bite my head off at me either being male or something that Magneto did to piss you off, let me remind you. I'm innocent in whatever he did."

"I'll take a chunk out of you if I damn well please," I muttered, crossing my arms. I saw his eyes change from humor to calculation, and he studied me.

"What happened?"

"Jean's alive."

"Shouldn't you be happy about it?"

"Well excuse me if I know where my boyfriend is going to head."

"You shouldn't beg for trouble."

"And you shouldn't be so optimistic." I sighed and leapt out of the window, letting Deadpool follow me. "Come on," I lifted my hand and Deadpool immediately took it.

"Ah, I knew you would come around-" I placed a finger on his lips and felt the smile underneath the mask.

"I'm helping you be lazy. Don't knock it." He wrapped his arms around me and I lifted us off of the ground and flew into the air.

"Nice knockers," he commented as he pulled me closer to him.

"I don't know whether you're just plain stupid or you want to get hit."

"I like the second part. Sounds kinky enough." I rolled my eyes and landed on the roof, easily spotting the massive X-Jet with Storm standing outside of it. I landed and Deadpool drew away, leaving one arm around my waist in a leisurely gesture.

"I'm sorry, Kat." I just shook my head.

"You just wait until my other surprise."

"About Jean?" My eyes snapped to Storm's.

"You know? How?"

"The X-Jet is faster than you give us credit for." Storm turned and I followed suit, only to see Jean at the top of the ramp.

I ran to her and we both hugged, and I felt a sense of happiness. After all, she was my teacher, and whatever Logan felt toward her wasn't her fault. And on the heels of happiness, I felt a keen sense of jealousy. My boyfriend stood only a few feet behind Jean, absently smiling in my direction. He wasn't paying attention to me, though he was trying his best to be nonchalant. I drew out of the hug with Jean and nodded at Logan.

"Jean...how did you survive?" I asked, holding her at arms length. She had the look of Jean, but I could see evidence of the Pheonix within her features.

"When Logan killed me-" I saw him flinch behind her, "I did die. The Pheonix brought me to life. In return, we merged together. I now have all the powers the Professor locked away." I smiled and hugged her once more.

"I'm glad you're okay," I whispered. Finally putting it off for as long as I could, I turned to Logan. "Logan," I greeted. He seemed to snap out of his reverie, and he glared as he stalked over to me.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I was going to save the Professor. That's what I was thinking."

"By jumping out of a plane?" Logan sounded incredulous, and it only served to fuel my anger.

"I can levitate! It's one of my powers, so I was never in any danger."

"Then why didn't you take me with you?"

"Uh, hello? You and Storm didn't believe me, remember?" All of the other mutants on the X-Jet began to fidgit uncomfortably, and I turned away from Logan, quite done with the conversation. I felt his hands grasp my shoulders in a bruising grip, and I hissed in pain.

"Don't do something stupid like that ever again," Logan growled into my ear. "Do you understand."

"Perfectly," I growled back between my clenched teeth. He released me and I smiled at Jean before taking my seat beside of Rogue. Logan glared at me once more, then whirled and began to walk toward the front of the X-Jet. "Asshole."

"Now, ma cher. He's just happy to have you back," Gambit said to me, trying to divert some of my anger.

"Oh, I can tell he's thrilled," I replied.

"Behave," Deadpool warned me, leaning back in his chair.

"Oh shove off, Wade." I heard a slight laugh before he settled in for a small nap. Jean smiled at me once more before sweeping past us and taking the seat next to Logan. He looked at her sideways, and the pure happiness I saw in his gaze literally caused my heart to squeeze. I held my chest and my breath caught, but my heartbeat evened out, letting me relax. All of the other mutants near me knew why I was feeling this way, but all were smart enough to simply sweep it under the rug for now.

We all buckled in as the X-Jet's engines turned on, and finally, it lifted into the air, taking us to our next destination.

"So, want to jump out of the jet again?" Deadpool asked in his sarcastic way, bringing my attention away from the ship.

"No," I grumbled glaring at him. "That was a dire emergency. I hate heights, thank you VERY much."

"You're afraid of heights?" Wade asked, sitting up in his chair. I could hear the humor in his voice and I growled at him.

"Ma Cher, you can't be serious!" Gambit exclaimed.

"She is," Rogue replied. "I remember her talking about it at practice."

"And that is why she never wanted to fly off of the roof," Colossus replied. "I remember her having to fight her way back down the steps."

"Oh, I remember that! Logan wouldn't let her through." I smiled faintly at the memory while a blush stained my cheeks. I literally had fought tooth and nail to get through Logan, and bolted down the stairs, only to lock Logan out of our room for the night.

Suddenly, I felt a pulse come from the front of the X-Jet. I whirled around, and watched. Jean too was aware of the pulse, and she turned back to me. In response, I took off my seatbelt, and began to walk up front.

"Kat, what are you doing?" Deadpool asked.

"I don't know," I answered as I swept past him. "I feel something." As I got to Jean, she stood, and we began to walk to the front. Logan grabbed Jean's arm to stop us, and I closed my eyes at the huge spike of jealousy that coursed through my system. I clenched my fists and tried my absolute best not to pummel my boyfriend into the ground.

"Let go, Logan." I saw his hand gently release her wrist, and I snickered at his incredulous face. He turned to me, angry, and I smiled sarcastically. He went to grab me, but I held out my hand, putting a small barrier between us.

"Don't even," I warned as Jean and I walked up to the front. We knelt at the Professor's feet, and both took a hand in each of ours.

"Do you feel that, Kat?" She asked, her eyes closing.

"I do," I replied.

"What the hell is going on?" Logan growled out, getting up from his seat.

"Sit boy," I commanded, using my powers to push Logan back.

"The Professor is in trouble," Jean replied.

"Do we need to stop the Jet?" Havoc, our pilot, asked.

"No. Kat and I can handle this. Close your eyes," She said to me. I did as she said. "Someone has tampered with the professor."

"I feel...like...there's a barrier," I said, mentally probing him. "He's trying to break out." My realization caused Logan to sit up again, and I opened my eyes.

"I said SIT!" I cried, shoving him roughly back into the seat with my powers. "You can't do anything, so sit your ass down and let us do our jobs." He opened his mouth to reply, and I finally had enough.

"Logan, please. She's wasting her powers to keep you in her seat," Jean stated. Her words were gentle, but I felt the lash beneath them, and felt a smug satisfaction. Maybe now he would sit still and shut up.

"I don't recognize the mental signature on the barrier," I said to Jean, drawing her back to the problem.

"Neither do I. Kat, we need to concentrate on one spot. Together, the three of us should be able to break through. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Jean." I closed my eyes, and called on my powers, feeling a wave rush through me. I felt the energy rise around us, and opened my eyes. Different colors flared around the three of us, not mixing.

"We must combine. Don't you see?" she asked in her teacher voice.

"I do," I said quietly. Her color was a fire red, the Professor's was a white, and I was a light blue. "Who do I attune to?"

"The Professor's." Around us, everything was quiet, and I concentrated on turning the color around me white. I had to feel the Professor's powers, and make it like his - a hard task for one as young as me. However, I felt Jean's power mixing with mine, and together, we managed to turn ours into a white. Finally, I felt all three of our powers mixing, and I knew that we now had the strength to break through the barrier.

"Now," Jean commanded. I gathered what I could, and threw all that I had into the barrier. I felt it give, much like a blanket would, but it didn't pierce. I pressed as hard as I could, but it only pushed it deeper; I didn't have the power to puncture it. As soon as I thought this, I felt Jean gathering behind me, and I managed to push a bit harder. Our powers combined, and we punctured it.

I felt a sense of victory, but of course it wasn't over yet. I felt something attack me, and I opened my eyes. It felt as if something was stabbing into my brain. Again, it came, and I cried out and held my head.

"Jean!" I called out as the colors around us washed away. I could see everything around us once more, including a worried Logan and Storm. "What is this?!" Now, it felt as if glass was being used to cut into my skull, and tears began to pour down my face.

"Hold my hand!" Jean said, reaching hers out to me. Logan bolted up as if he was going to come to me, but he stopped beside Jean, watching me.

"It might-" I was cut off by a scream ripped from my throat. "Come after you!"

"Grab her hand!" I heard. It was Deadpool's voice. He stood in front of me, his eyes serious. "You can fight it together."

"All right," I whispered. I grabbed Jean's hand, and immediately, I felt the pain dull.

"This was a trap for us all along," Jean said, even as her powers worked to combat it. "However, it wasn't aimed at me. It was after you."

"Well that sucks," I muttered. The last of the pain was finally gone, and I opened my eyes to see a welcome site. I saw the Professor's eyes open, and look at me.

"Professor?" I asked. He smiled gently.

"Hello Catherine." I smiled broadly as relief coarsed through my system. "What has happened?" he asked generally, then spotted Jean.

"Jean," he said softly. "I felt your return. I apologize that I couldn't be there to help you."

"It's all right, Professor," Jean answered. She looked very emotional, and to my surprise, Logan put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. It was a harmless gesture he had used in the past, but still. Seeing it on Jean made me hurt inside.

Both telepaths looked at me, and I blushed. Because my emotions were so out of control, they could sense what I was feeling. Embarassed, I stood and nearly ran back to my seat in the back, not turning to see Logan or any of the group up front.

"_It will be all right, Catherine_." I heard the Professor say in my head. I closed my eyes and tried to control my out of control emotions.

"_No it won't. Soon, I'll be a liability, and you'll send me home_." Leaving Logan behind with Jean, without a buffer in between the two.

Finally having enough of the whole ordeal, I closed my eyes, and a few minutes later, I drifted off to sleep.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"Kat. Wake up." I opened my eyes sleepily only to see a masked Deadpool only inches away from my face. I yelped in surprise and clutched my beating heart.

"I swear to god Wade, I'll kill you one of these days."

"Get in line," he said casually. He peeked around the X-Jet, and seeing no one else around, he handed me a small burgandy bag. "All right, open it."

"It's not my birthday, or my anniversary, you know."

"I'm just trying to get in your pants. Now open it." I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm, but did as he bade. I opened the flap, and to my surprise, I saw four different steel chakrams.

"See? I got you a little something." I lifted one out of the bag and put it on my lap. "Now, here," he continued, pointing at the chakram, "Is a switch. Push it." Again, I listened to him, and jagged teeth shot out of the outer edges of the chakram. "It's adamantium, so it'll cut through anything. So, charge it, spin it, and throw it at some shit."

"You're so eloquent," I muttered. "But I do love the gift. Thanks, Deadpool." I gave him a chaste kiss on his masked lips, and laughed at the utter silence afterwards. "You're welcome," I said laughing, standing up. I grabbed my bag and levitated the chakram above my fingers, letting it spin.

"Are you coming?" I asked as I began to walk away. I heard footsteps behind me, and smiled at his reaction.

As we exited the X-Jet, I saw everyone gathered around the Professor and Magneto. I walked over behind Colossus and watched the Professor curiously.

"Greetings. This place is known as the Sanctuary, a retreat of Magneto's. It will be our base of operations while we're here, on Genosha. Several days ago, Apocalypse attacked the city of Genosha. Magneto and several of his people managed to escape and help to rescue me. He asked for our help in freeing Genosha, and I could hardly refuse."

"And why should we work with the X-men?" Pyro asked, throwing a glare in our directio. "We could do it ourselves."

"No, we couldn't. That is why I asked for Charles's help. I expect full cooperation from all of you."

"Thank you, Erik. Now, according to Sabretooth, he needs our help in finding a mutant he had freed from Genosha. She was last seen in an area called 'The Dead Zone', north of here." Sabretooth growled, but didn't say anything contrary to the statement.

"We should split up, Professor. We can cover more ground that way." The Professor looked at me, and if he found my spinning weapon odd, he made no mention of it.

"That's correct. Two groups should do it." I nodded. "Logan, Jean, Deadpool, and Catherine shall be the first team. Colossus, Rogue, Iceman, Nightcrawler, and Storm shall be the next."

"We'll search through the northwest," I supplied. The Professor nodded. "Storm, search to the northeast."

"The brotherhood shall search due north," Magneto stated. Finally, we broke ranks, and each team headed their seperate ways.

"So," I said, following Logan and Jean like a lost puppy. "How do I put on these things without carrying them?" I asked Wade. Jean, who heard the snitch of the conversation, looked back at me, and I stopped the spinning chakram to show her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"My new weapon," I said happily. Wade got it for me." I saw Logan throw a look over his shoulder, as if he was telling me to watch it. As he turned back around, I stuck my tongue at his back.

"Behave," Jean said simply, and I smiled. She always knew.

"That's what the belt inside is for," Wade answered. "Here, I'll show you." He took the belt from my bag, and with his fingers skimming my waist, slowly tied it up front, hugging me in the process. This time, Logan turned fully around, and grabbed my wrist, yanking me forward.

"Let me see that." He grabbed the chakram before I could tell him to wait, and dropped it as it pierced his hand.

"It's adamantium," I told him. "It'll pierce anything, or so Wade claims." I looked down at the belt only to see latched hooks used to carry the chakrams. I opened one hook and slid on the bloody chakram, not wanting to piss Logan off any longer. I took the other three from the bag and hooked them all on simultaneously. I tossed the bag onto the gate outside of the compound, and sighed as we headed off into the distance.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"I'm bored," I said, trudging through trees. Seeing Jean and Logan together made me sick to my stomach, so I had snuck off while they had their back turned. Wade had left as well, probably preffering to hunt alone. I, however, was lost, bored, and utterly pissed at myself. If I hadn't have been so damn touchy, I could have avoided walking around in circles.

I sent to of the rings in front of me, letting the metal cut through the small trees and foliage in my way. Finally, I saw a temple up ahead and I nearly cried with joy. Finally, a landmark of some type. I went over to stand in the middle, and suddenly, I knew I was not alone. I looked around for the mental signature, and spotted a girl bound and gagged by a statue. I quickly came over, hooking my chakrams in the process, and knelt by her feet. I unded her binds, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Thank you, X-man. I thought I was a goner."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Are you the girl that escaped?"

"Yup. That's me! The name's Blink."

"Catherine. You know the way back, by chance?"

"Nope. But I can put up a teleport somewhere."

"Do you know where The Sanctuary is?" I asked, hopeful.

"Of course! Sabertooth showed it to me." I could have sworn I had heard angels sing, and I knew I was so grateful. Really, I don't know who saved who.

"Please, take us there."

"Sure thing." She stood, and in front of her, a purple portal opened. She stepped through it confidently, and I walked in behind her. When I stepped out, I was surprised to see the Sanctuary in front of us. As we walked inside, I was surprised only to see the Professor.

"Catherine! You've found her."

"Yeah, I guess. Professor, this is Blink. Blink, this is the Professor." They both said their greetings and we lapsed into a silence.

"Since you're the first one back, why don't you get some rest?" the Professor asked. "I know you're still tired from freeing me earlier today.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks Professor."

"Of course."

I made my way onto the X-Jet, and closed the door behind me, effectively shutting out the bugs and other creepy crawlers that lived in the jungle. Finally, I curled up on the floor, laid down, and managed to fall asleep.


	5. Bats? Not Bats!

So, next chapter. Finally. Funny story about this too. I've been at my boyfriend's house for my break, and I was like, "The hell is this mutant, and what does he do? Why am I writing a mutant story if I don't know this character!"

My boyfriend promptly produces a thick X-men comic book, and goes "Start reading." I have no sympathy from him. None at all. Even though I'm using him as my human Wikipedia, he's making meh read! The pain! Lol.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Or, happy late thanksgiving, really. I know it's a few days late, but I kicked my ass into gear to get a present to everyone done and ready, so here it is! Hope you all enjoy it!

****************

I woke to an incessant shaking, and groaned in anger.

"Deadpool, you've got three seconds to crawl back in the hole you came from, or by god, I'll shove you there."

I didn't open my eyes nor did I move again; I simply settled down for more of my nap time.

"I'm not Deadpool," Logan said in that gruff voice of his.

I bolted upwards, a slight blush on my cheeks, and gaped at Logan. He had literally ignored me for how long, and suddenly, he comes and wakes me up? This was just...odd. Used to be normal, but not now.

"I'm sorry, Logan," I said softly, stock still. I couldn't seem to move, and even if I could, I didn't want to ruin the dream...or...reality.

"It's fine," he said, simply watching me. Unnerved by his staring, I began to rub the sleep out of my eyes, breaking off the contact. "The Professor wants us to do a job for him."

"The Professor? Us?" I asked, noncomprehending. "What about Jean?"

"Jean's off on her own mission already. Since you're a telepath, you're coming with me to provide communication."

"What about the walkie-talkies?"

"Professor said they may become useless underground. Now are you coming, or not?"

Before he had a chance to say no or to take back the mission, I nodded and bolted to my feet. I grabbed the chakram belt and began to fasten it around my waist. Suddenly, Logan's hands wrapped around me and he fastened the belt himself. His head was mere inches from my own, and I could feel the heat of his body around me. I knew my heart sped up in anticipation, but I could do nothing to stop my reaction.

"Now's not the time," he said, noticing my rising excitement. I blushed profusely and stepped out of his grasp, finishing it myself.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "It won't happen again. Now, what's our mission?"

"He wants us to go underground to find the entrance into Genosha."

"How does he know it's underground?" I asked, finishing my task and looking up at him.

"Mission briefing's waiting on you. Let's go and you'll find out." He jerked his thumb to the door and I hung my head slightly, ashamed.

"You're right. I'm sorry," I said again. As I walked past him, he caught my arm and my chin, and forced me to look into his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, his expression serious and grave.

"Well…" I began.

There were so many things. Why was Jean alive? Why didn't he act like my boyfriend anymore? What was his past? Did he love her more than me? Was I just a pawn, or fallback girl?

Everything was eating away at me, taking bits of my heart piece by piece, but I was too terrified to know the answers. What if they were what I dreaded most? What if I was rejected, yet again, for a better version of myself? Could I survive the only person I valued in my life leaving me for my only other valued friend? Could I be in the way of their love, knowing that he pined for her day and night? Could I be that selfish?

"Catherine!" he growled, interrupting my musings. "I asked you a question." Quickly, I put on the brightest smile I could and forced myself to calm down.

"Sorry. I was trying to think about the mission. But yes! I'm fine, just a bit tired, that's all. Now come on, let's go."

I pried off his hand and walked past him, my smile quickly fading from my face, only to be replaced with a frown. I wasn't all right. This was going to my head. All of it. Soon, I was going to be quite useless, and I would be forced to go home. I wanted to stay by Logan's side. I did! I had to do everything in my power to act like everything was fine.

"Right," he muttered, following me. We walked out of the airship and into the crowd of people. Deadpool noticed me straight off and watched me with a curious expression. When he saw the utter dejection, he sliced his thumb from one side of his neck to the other, signaling me to cut the crap and suck it up. I remembered the time he had held a sword to my throat, and I could almost feel it pricking my neck again. I straightened and held my head up high, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"You did an excellent job in locating the Genosha security code. With that, we can now enter the city," Magneto began.

"But ol' Apocalypse has got guards posted on every door," Gambit interjected. "That place is locked up tighter than a crock's jaw." I smiled at the analogy.

"There's a place along the seawall that's not being watched," Magneto explained.

"I know the door you speak of. It was buried months ago during an earthquake," Scarlet Witch stated.

"Right you are, Wanda," Toad said, jabbing his thumb toward himself. "You've got it all, beauty and intelligence. A man would be bloody lucky to have the affections of a woman like you, he would." I gagged at the thought of Toad with a woman and Deadpool swatted me on the back.

"Please, show some self-respect," Nightcrawler said, obviously as disgusted as I was.

"What?" Toad asked, not heeding his advice at all.

"That means keep looking, buddy, but with you, I don't think it'll work. Hell, I don't think you'll even find a man at this rate," Deadpool added. Toad began to crouch, about to spring at him, but Magneto held up an arm, stopping him.

"Enough! Both of you!" Deadpool merely grinned, totally unrepentant, and Toad relaxed. "Wanda's correct," he continued. But during the attack on Genosha, Apocalypse unleashed genetically enhanced creatures known as the Cerci."

Oh, he wasn't serious. I was going underground to fight with some mutated species of things that I didn't know about? If it was anything close to what I thought they were, I was going ballistic here and now.

"They're mindless, carnivorous insects. They breed at a highly accelerated rate and unchecked, they could overrun this island in a matter of months," Scarlet Witch explained.

Oh god, disgusting! My day definitely wasn't looking much brighter, that's for damn sure.

"They've already created a sizable next," Magneto began, taking over the explanation. "One that appears to be to our advantage. The X-Man, Angel, followed the tunnels and discovered the Cerci have unearthed the door that had been buried."

"No worries, then," Gambit drawled. "I'll be wearing some bug stompin boots and we'll be there in no time!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Scarlet Witch beat me to it.

"Gambit, the Cerci grow to the size of a man and can crush rock with their mandibles," she said disdainfully, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well that's not so good," he said, waving his hands and deflecting her disdain. That man had a hide of steel, I tell you.

"Which is why an entire team is needed to battle through the tunnels to the door. Once there, you'll be able to use the security code and enter into the back area of Genosha."

"I have chosen my first team to go," the Professor said, looking at Logan and myself. "Barrage and Wolverine will be accompanying the Brotherhood into the tunnel."

"Scarlet Witch and Sabretooth will accompany your X-men," Magneto stated. "Good luck to you all."

I nearly growled at the turn of events. I wanted Logan and I to go by ourselves to have some alone time, but I knew why Professor Xavier had done it. To effectively work together and keep trust in one another, both teams had to go to all missions to keep tabs on the other.

"I'm not going with him," Logan said, his claws already extended. I grabbed his arm with my hands to hold him back, and he made no move forward or to shake me off. His whole body was tense and he was ready to spring into action, but surprisingly, he was showing some restraint. Either that or self preservation, but I didn't care. This was sheer stupidity and I wanted to keep him out of trouble.

"Logan!" The Professor admonished, but Magneto held up a hand.

"Both teams will split up in the caverns. The door is within the queen's chamber and two teams will find the entrance faster than merely one team."

"Logan, please!" I whispered frantically. "Don't do this here! We have to save the world, not fight each other!" He didn't say anything, nor did he move. "Logan!" I pleaded frantically.

Finally, he relaxed and sheathed his claws, turning away from the group.

"Fine. If we split up, I have no problems." I turned back to the two leaders, and saw Magneto nod.

"Good. Now that we have no problems, we'll begin. Blink!" Blink stepped from the crowd and walked over to Magneto. "I need you to provide a portal to the beginning of the caverns."

"Can do, boss man!" she said before closing her eyes. A few seconds later, a pink portal appeared in front of us, and Logan began to walk forward. I dropped his arm and meekly walked after him. He stepped through and before I followed, I smiled at the Professor. He nodded, and I walked through.

I found myself in a dark, musty cave, and I immediately flinched, looking frantically around the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked. I yelped at the noise, and held a finger to my lips.

"Be quiet!" I hissed. Behind me, Sabretooth and Scarlet Witch emerged from the portal.

"Let's go," Scarlet Witch said, walking past Logan and myself. "The tunnel splits in two not too far ahead of here. We'll take the left path and you'll take the right. In the meantime, Sabretooth, you walk first. Wolverine, you're in the back. Barrage and I will take the middle."

I listened to her and walked behind her, casting an inquiring glance at Logan. The visible hatred in his eyes made me flinch, but I just had to trust that he didn't make an idiot of himself.

"Go on, Sabretooth." I looked forward to see Sabretooth snarling, but thankfully, he turned and began to walk away. The three of us behind him began to walk after him, and I sighed in relief. Disaster avoided.

"Hey, Scarlet Witch?" I began, a few moments after we started. "What are your powers? You don't have to answer, if you don't want to."

"You're new to the X-men, aren't you?" she replied. "I'm a mutant who deals with probables. I can cast hexes, which can usually kill an opponent." She was silent for a moment, then began again. "What's the probability of a human combustion?"

"Slim to none, I guess. Why?" I scratched my head at the question.

Her hand began to glow, the purple light eerily reflecting the cave around us.

"I can increase that probability, say, to one hundred percent. That means, when I hex a person, I can cause them to combust."

My eyes widened and the purple glow from her hands finally receded, leaving us in semi-blackness again.

"That's amazing!" I said, seriously impressed. I'd never met a mutant like her before, and I doubt I would again.

"What are you, then?"

"A plain old psychic," I replied. "I'm like Jean, just a watered down version of her."

"She's more powerful?" Scarlet Witch asked, now interested.

"By a thousand," I answered dejectedly. "Now that she's regained her full powers, she's one of the most powerful mutants in the world."

"I see," Scarlet Witch answered cryptically. "What about your boyfriend?"

Immediately, I blushed.

"My boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yes. The one in the red body suit. He is your boyfriend, no?"

"Deadpool? He's-"

"She's my girlfriend," Logan interjected.

I gasped at Logan's interference, which I did not expect. I thought he wouldn't say anything to the contrary, especially as I had not heard anything about our relationship since Jean had come back.

"Oh? I thought that Jean woman was your girlfriend."

"No," he growled out, and my spirits dropped. Was he angry because she wasn't his girlfriend? Or was he angry for Scarlet Witch prying into his life?

"I see," she said, then stopped. "Here's where the tunnel parts. We'll see you X-men around. Come, Sabretooth. With a growl at Logan, he finally turned and walked away, leaving Logan and I to take the right path.

"Are you ready, Logan?" I asked, tentatively placing my hand on his arm again.

"Yeah. Let's go."

We began down the path, both of us silent. My mind was buzzing with a thousand question and a thousand possible answers, all of which Scarlet Witch had triggered by her simple conversation.

Suddenly, I heard a sound, and immediately two chakrams were in my hand as I slid into a battle position. I looked around the ceiling, trying to find the source of the sound, when Logan stopped.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I heard something," I explained. "I heard a noise!"

"I didn't hear anything," he replied.

"No! I heard it! I know I did!" I heard Logan sigh.

"Then what did you hear?"

"Bats! I heard bats!" I exclaimed, checking the ceiling.

"You can't hear bats," he replied disdainfully. "Now let's go."

"You can hear their wings!" I shot back.

"Fine. I'll be able to hear the bats and I'll warn you. Now come on."

Reluctantly, I stood and began to walk, but left the chakrams in my hands. I wasn't going to face those bloodsucking leeches without being properly prepared, and nothing Logan said could possibly change my mind.

Another sound echoed down the cavern, and this time, Logan stopped.

"Did you hear a bat?"

"No," he replied, his claws coming out.

"Did you see a bat?"

"No."

Another sound echoed through the cavern.

"Do you smell a bat?" I asked, crouching into a battle position.

"It's not a damn bat," he replied. Three spiders finally came into view, and I sighed in relief.

"Not bats. Thank god."

I released the chakrams and the blades popped out of the sides as they began to spin. Using my hands as guides, I let them fly, and spun them in circles around the spiders, cutting cleanly through them before they could attack. I retracted my weapons and continued to spin them, letting the blood fly off from the blades.

The three spiders finally fell into pieces where they stood and I smiled in satisfaction.

"That's for scaring me, you bastards," I muttered. "Thought it was a bat, but it's just a spider. Jesus, and I was worried too."

"Let me get this straight," Logan began, sheathing his claws. "You're not afraid of man sized spiders, you're afraid of tiny bats?" I shuddered.

"Hey! Those bats can drink your blood and bleed you dry! Plus, we're on enemy territory. Those are enemy bats! They could be trained killers and need more blood than the usual bat! There could be a thousand of them…" I shuddered. "Ugh. Genetically engineered bats. God, that would be horrible."

"You're the first woman I met who isn't afraid of spiders," he stated, stopping me before I began to ramble. The humor in his voice helped me to relax, and I smiled softly.

"Stupid thing to be afraid of, isn't it? I try to tell myself not to be afraid, but I'm always terrified at night."

"Come on. I'll protect you from the bats."

"So you're saying you think there's bats?" I asked, but Logan's glare cut me off from any other questions.

I ran over to Logan and we began to walk down the tunnel side by side, like it was in the old days. We had been inseparable, and I had been kind of lonely without him.

"Hey Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did we get this job? I'm sure the Professor knows I hate bats. I mean, we've practiced mind merging enough for him to pick up on my fears. Why would he send a terrified mutant to do such an important job?"

"Because he's probably forcing you to face your fears."

"And that's why he sent you. To help me through it?" I asked, smiling.

"Yeah. That's probably why."

Again, silence reigned in the tunnel, and we trudged along in silence. Suddenly, I felt a touch in my mind, and I knew the Professor's signature immediately. I stopped Logan by catching his hand and held my free one to my temple. I closed my eyes and opened my mind, allowing the Professor entrance for a mind merge

"What is it?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"The Professor."

_**Catherine?**_

_Professor! What is it?_

_**It seems Scarlet Witch has found an active lair. Blink will provide a portal to retrieve the two of you, and I will send an alternate team in your place to work with the Brotherhood team. **_

_But Professor, we've barely begun to explore!_

_**It's quite all right, Catherine. An active lair means the queen is somewhere nearby, and knowing that Wolverine will not work with Sabretooth means that I will have to retrieve the two of you for now. **_

_All right, I understand._

"It seems Scarlet Witch found the lair before us."

"But we just started!" Logan exclaimed.

"That's what I said," I muttered, but shook my head. "It doesn't matter. He's going to be pulling us out and sending in another team instead. He says you and Sabretooth won't work together, and that's why we're going to be pulled back for the moment."

"I don't believe this," Logan growled.

"But it's fine, right? We killed some of the creatures, and the Professor might have a job for us once we're back."

"He better," Logan muttered. A portal suddenly appeared in front of us and I walked through it, secretly thankful to get out of the caverns.

I exited and nearly ran straight into Deadpool, who was just outside of the portal. He caught me by the shoulders and smiled down at me.

"I heard you're terrified of bats," he stated, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Go to hell, you stupid snooping son of a-"

"Is that a way to greet your friend?" he interrupted. "Here I was, all worried for you, and you're calling me all sorts of generic names."

"Oh shut up," I muttered. "My swearing isn't that bad," I finally retorted. Logan ran into me as he stepped out of the portal, and he glared when he saw Deadpool's hands on my shoulders. The portal behind us closed, then opened again.

"Let go of her," he growled, reaching out to take off Deadpool's hands forcibly. Deadpool released me with a grin and winked.

"See you later, little dove," he whispered loud enough for Logan to hear, and winked at me.

"Stop calling me that!" I raged at him, a blush on my cheeks and hands clenched at my side. "I am not a little dove!" Deadpool tweaked my nose and stepped toward the portal before Logan could do any damage, laughing all the while.

"You are to me."

"Why you-!" he stepped through the portal, cutting off my tirade, and I sighed. "I hate that stupid nickname," I muttered.

"Catherine, Logan, you two will remain on standby until we have need of you." I turned to see Professor Xavier behind us, and I smiled in obvious embarrassment. "Please remain within Sanctuary, and I will call when it is time for you to deploy."

"Thanks Professor," I said, walking away from both men. I had to clean off my chakrams from the icky spider blood as well as Logan's blood from before. I sat on the edge and sent the three of my chakrams into the water, slicing it from three different directions. It was difficult for me to control all four chakrams separately, though not impossible. With some work, I could turn this into my own fighting style and become useful in combat.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked from behind me.

"Cleaning off my weapons. I don't want them to rust or anything."

"Adamantium doesn't rust," Logan stated. "But you should clean your weapons." He plopped down beside of me and I continued to slice the water, just practicing my movements.

"I don't either. Wade gave them to me for some odd reason. I'm still learning as I go."

"You did well with those spiders," he complimented gruffly. Knowing

"Thanks. You could have done the same, probably faster than I could have. You're the best fighter I know."

"Am I?" he asked.

"Yes, of course! Plus, you're my boyfriend, so you're obviously the best to me."

He was silent at my statement and I sighed, somewhat depressed.

"I am still your girlfriend, aren't I?" I asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah," he growled out, turning his head to look at me. I retraced my weapons and placed them on my belt, letting the water drip to the wood below us.

"What about Jean? You've always loved her. I mean, you loved her first, even before me. That love never goes away, even after death. Or in her case, her rebirth. I mean, I've been sensing it lately. You wish you were with her instead of me. If you're with me out of self pity, I don't need it." I shook my head violently. "I don't need your pity. I've survived on my own for as long as I can remember, so I'm used to being alone. I'm not going to stand in the way of true love, even if it means I'm out of the picture."

He was silent, but looked out into the stream. I felt my heart plummet and pain and rejection began to swamp my senses.

"That's it, isn't it? It's pity. If you weren't my boyfriend now, you would be after Jean. Her husband's dead, so you should have free access to her."

"It's not pity," he finally answered.

"Is it loyalty? Are you just with me because you're my boyfriend? Or are you with me because you love me?"

"This is ridiculous. I'm with you, and that's all that matters."

"No…it's not to me…at least. I…I know you're with me…but…I think we should split up. You…you love her more. I won't stand in the way of that."

"Are you done being a martyr?" he asked sarcastically. Tears prickled my vision and along with the pain, I felt anger flowing through me.

"I am not a martyr. I'm a realist. You love her. I'm Jean, just another version of her. You saw her in me and that's why you love me. You couldn't have her, but I was easy. I was Jean."

My hair began to stand up on end, as if a wind was blowing upwards beneath me. Droplets from the stream began to rise and plants around me began to sway. The wood beneath me began to shudder under the weight of my energy, but I couldn't stop it.

"Catherine!"

At the Professor's voice, everything around me dropped and I felt the buildup of energy around me disperse as if it had never been. I felt shame course through me and the tears fell from my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Catherine. But I must split the both of you up from now on."

I felt a huge spike of energy again and I held my head in self preservation as the energies from my emotions began to war within me. I was drawn into a hug and again, I felt the energy disperse.

"What's going on?" I heard Logan ask from above my head.

"The attack from earlier has left her defenses weakened. This means that her mind is quite unstable by this point and she will be easily influenced by her emotions," the Professor explained. "Now that Jean is back, she is in constant turmoil." He left most of the point unsaid, but both of us still got the message loud and clear. "If this continues, I will have no choice but to split you from him, and if that doesn't solve the problem, you will return to the mansion until you are under control. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," I whispered.

_It hurts Professor. It hurts so much._

_**Give it time, Catherine. Time heals all wounds.**_

"You are needed once again. It seems that Storm and Colossus are currently fighting humans instead of the Cerci."

"Humans?" I asked, peering at the Professor over Logan's arms.

"Yes. I'm not quite sure on the details, which is why I'm sending a psychic to aid them. Can I count on you?" I nodded.

"You can, Professor. I'll get the job done."

"Good. Blink has already established a portal." With that, he turned and wheeled away, leaving Logan and I alone.

"I'm sorry, Logan. I shouldn't have said those things, and I apologize."

Surprisingly, he placed a chase kiss on my temple, then stood to his feet.

"Come on. We have work to do," he said, holding a hand out to me. "I'll make sure to protect you from the bats."

"You promise?" I asked, smiling at the olive branch.

"Yeah. Now come on."

Both of us walked over to the portal and walked through side by side. Once we appeared, we saw Storm and Colossus in front of three men. Immediately, I shut my eyes and held a temple to my head, connecting to the Professor. Logan saw this action and stepped in front of me, blocking me from view of the three men.

"More reinforcements? It won't help," the man in front stated. "Zealot was correct. He knew that followers of Magneto would attempt to enter Genosha through these caves."

"Who is Zealot?" Storm spoke up.

"He is the one true leader of Genosha! And he will depose with the interloper Magneto, and claim the throne of this island for his own."

"Sounds like a real nice guy," Logan replied caustically. "I'm guessing you're his stooges."

"We are the minions of Zealot. And we have been ordered to dispatch you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Logan replied, flicking his wrists and elongating his claws.

_Did you get that Professor?_

_**Yes I did. Continue through the tunnels until you reach the doorway. Contact me again when you reach your destination.**_

_Will do, Professor._

When I opened my eyes, the three enemies had already been disposed of, and Logan stood above them, his claws dripping with blood.

"Let's go," he growled out.

****************

After what seemed like hours, or maybe it was just monotony getting to me, we burst through a wall only to find a man in front of us. He was dressed in an odd ensemble adorned with a red cape.

"I'm guessing you're Zealot?" I asked, sensing the air of importance around the man in front of me.

"I am Zealot," he replied. Quickly, I contacted the Professor to allow him to listen to the conversation. "And it appears my esteemed colleague, Magneto, is even more delusion than I had thought. Don't people realize you're following a madman?"

"Who are you, Zealot? What do you want with Genosha?" Storm quickly asked.

"I used to be on the ruling council of Genosha," he replied.

"But now you're working for Apocalypse," Logan replied, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"I've always been an opponent of Magneto – his lies were poisoning all mutant kind. Now that Apocalypse is here, things will be set right."

"Magneto may be our enemy, but he certainly isn't a liar!" Storm defended.

"What fools! You've fallen under his spell too! Don't you realize he seeks to weaken all mutants, to bend them to his own evil purposes?" Zealot asked, derision clear in his tone of voice.

"No! Magneto established Genosha to protect mutants!" Storm argued.

"He seeks to make them depended on him; to look at him as some type of messiah. But I know the truth, and I will stop Magneto."

"But Apocalypse is worse than Magneto," Storm replied, trying to reason with him.

"Granted, Apocalypse is ruthless. But I've been assured once he's acquired what he seeks, he'll leave peacefully."

"And you'll be left in charge of Genosha. Pretty convenient, if you ask me," Logan replied.

"That was the agreement. So you see, in the end, Genosha will benefit."

"You're a bastard who doesn't know when to shut up. We're going through, and if you get in our way, I'll have to kill you," Logan said, crouching into an attack position. Zealot began to laugh, and the sound echoed around us.

"A pity there's no discussing the matter rationally. I'm afraid I'll have to kill you all," he replied. He lifted his hands, and the entire earth began to rumble around us. I quickly broke contact with the Professor and lifted my hands to deflect the small debris coming from the ceiling. Suddenly Zealot disappeared, and we whirled, only to see him a ways down the tunnel. Three of his zealots were running towards us and he smiled.

"I'll leave you to your demise," he replied as the tunnel collapsed in front of him, leaving us trapped with the three zealots. Before I could send out my chakrams, Colossus jumped into the fray and Storm held out a hand, calling electricity to the guy on the right. Logan was midleap for the guy on the left. Once all three were dispatched, I contacted the Professor.

_Professor, did you hear all of that? I'm sorry I broke the connection._

_**Quite all right. I did hear what he said and have relayed the information to the rest of the teams. Scarlet Witch and Sabretooth have found the last queen. You and Nightcrawler will assist them in their battle. The other three will return back to base. Understand?**_

_Yes Professor._

"What is it, Kat?" Logan asked, watching me carefully.

"Seems Scarlet Witch and Sabretooth found the queen. I've been ordered to help and you three are going back to base. "Almost on cue, a Blink portal appeared a few yards away from us. "Come on."

All four of us stepped through the portal, and I immediately spotted Nightcrawler. I grinned in his direction, then turned back to the Professor.

"Blink?" he asked.

"Already on it," she replied. The portal disappeared, then reappeared, and I walked through it first, followed by Nightcrawler. We appeared slightly in front of Scarlet Witch and Sabretooth, and I waved in response.

"Hi…again?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm your living walkie-talkie. And Nightcrawler is the X-men back up."

"The queen is through the door. She's not alone. I smell a mutant," Sabretooth stated.

"Let's get this over with," Scarlet Witch stated, walking toward a webbed door. Sabretooth went first and broke into the queen's chamber, causing the last Cerci queen and the mutant inside to turn and look at us.

"Still alive, I see," he replied, looking at me. Yet, again, I contacted the Professor, but this time, I kept my eyes open. It was more of a challenging connection, but I felt it justified at this point. "Surprising, very surprising indeed. But why continue? Don't you see the truth? Magneto is leading you to your destruction.

"No he's not. He wants to free Genosha from Apocalypse," Scarlet Witch replied disdainfully.

"But don't you see it doesn't need saving? Once control of Genosha is handed to me, all mutants will live in peace and prosperity."

"You're not the rightful leader of Genosha. Magneto is. The people will only follow him," Scarlet Witch argued.

"As expected from Magneto's daughter," Zealot replied. "Soon, you won't be a hindrance to either myself or Apocalypse. Farewell fools."

Again, he disappeared farther down the tunnel, and three men were again running at us. The tunnel collapsed and the three mutants around me attacked, quickly dispatching the enemy. I used two of my chakrams and quickly sliced the queen, who was currently running straight in my direction. She fell apart into pieces only a few yards away from my feet, and I felt a rivulet of blood trickle from my nose.

_Professor, it's done. The last queen is dead. I sense Zealot just down the tunnel from us, and he seems prepared for a battle. _

_**I see. Erik will now accompany you and dispose of Zealot himself.**_

_Want me to be your eyes and ears still?_

_**Please do so. You can rest when you return. **_

_Will do, Professor._

"Magneto's coming to join us," I stated to Scarlet Witch, who I deemed to be leader of the group.

"He's going to take care of him personally," she stated. "Only he will attack Zealot. I will allow no interference." A portal appeared and Magneto stepped through. It closed behind him and he looked at me.

"Where is he?"

I pointed at the rockslide.

"Through there," I replied.

Magneto raised his hands and again, I felt shaking around us. The rocks began to move themselves out of the way, flying past our group by mere feet. But, in a few moments, the job was done, and we were staring at a mostly cleared tunnel.

"Let's go," he commanded, and of course, we all followed without a word. He led us down the tunnel and into a huge cavern. We all spotted Zealot immediately, and he, in turn, zeroed in on Magneto. Obediently, I connected with Xavier, even though I felt a second rivulet begin in my other nostril.

"What are you doing down here, Magneto? Shouldn't you be sitting on a throne giving orders? It's not your style to do any of the dirty work."

"Zealot! You have no idea the number of times I wanted to permanently silence your endless prattle during the Genoshan council meetings," Magneto replied.

"You can't silence me, Magneto. The people of Genosha know that I will lead them to a better tomorrow. They are done listening to your poisonous lies."

A headache began to form and I turned away from Zealot as I felt the nosebleed worsen.

"You…as the leader? Ha! The people of Genosha would sooner be ruled by a chimpanzee. Face it, Zealot. You were barely able to garner enough votes to join the council."

"The number of people faithful to me have grown and become more vocal. They would follow me to the ends of the earth."

"The few Genoshans who follow you only do so because you power and prestige once you've gained control."

Zealot began to laugh, as if Magneto's words were just nothing inconsequential, and my head was literally pounding at every word uttered. The attack from the Professor had indeed sapped nearly all of my strength, and I was too tired to continue this for much longer.

"How wrong you are, Magneto. And once Apocalypse has found what he wants, he will hand over control of Genosha to me. Then you will see how the people love me!"

"Zealot, don't tell me you're starting to believe your own lies. That can be very dangerous."

"You've insulted me for the last time, Magneto! I will destroy you!"

Both combatants launched themselves at one another, and I knew no more. The pain was too much, and I felt myself slip into oblivion.


	6. Torture and Salvation

I'm sorry this has taken so long to get out!

Every single time I've tried to write this, something's gone wrong. First, the power went out, and I was like, all right, I'll just rewrite it. Second time, computer completely failed and crashed, wiping it out again. So, third time's the charm, right? Wrong. Third time I tried to save my data and the system crashed. Again.

So in the end, this was the fourth time I've written this chapter, and I've saved it on a flash drive, so if the laws of "You shall break every piece of machinery that you touch" is still in effect, I can have a backup. Well, then again, my dog has chewed flash drives before, so I don't think it's still safe, and that's the saddest part of all. Oh well.

* * *

I awoke slowly, my eyes fluttering open and my vision blurry. I had overexerted myself again, which meant I was weaker than I originally thought. I picked myself up and as I placed my hand on the ground, I looked down, alarmed. Why the hell was I lying in desert sand? I stood and quickly scanned my surroundings, and my heart began to beat widly to match my growing panic.

Sand was the only thing I could see for miles and miles, and nothing around me was stirring. There was no wind, no animals, nothing to even disturb the fragile silence around me. I opened my mouth and began to speak, but no words emerged. I couldn't even hear my own voice.

I clapped, but again, no sound emerged. I was trapped inside of this hell. But where would I go? What would I do? Everything around me was pitch black, yet I could see as if it was daylight. No stars were out to guide me, and I didn't know the terrain. Which way should I go? How could I escape?

The absense of sound meant this was no ordinary place and no ordinary dream. Even in my dreams reality had intruded, and the laws of science prevailed. Here, there was no sound. What did this mean?

Suddenly, I heard a whisper on the wind. I whirled around, trying to call out to whatever it was, but nothing emerged from my mouth. Not even my breath could be heard.

"Amanra."

The name echoed around me, as if a crowd of people were whispering around me. I opened my mouth and began to scream questions, but my answer was the word repeating again and again. I yelled for the voices to stop as I held my hands over my ears, trying to block off the rapidly repeated word.

"Amanra. Amanra. Amanra. Amanra. Amanra."

The voices began to blend into a chant, burrowing the word into my brain. I began to yell at the voices to stop, and amazingly, it was silent once again. I lifted my head and looked around, but flinched as a wave of pain coarsed through my head.

"What the-" I stopped as I heard my voice again. "I can talk! I can hear myself!"

A second wave tore through my head, and I cried out and sank to my knees, only to fall through the sand and into a dark gaping pit. Here, I couldn't see anything, but I was falling. I didn't know when I would land or what I would land on, but the pain in my head was increasing, drawing my attention away from that pressing problem.

It was then that my brain exploded into millions of bombs, each racking through my head as if it was trying to tear it apart and break free. Tiny needles pricked my skin as knives sliced through my head, and I screamed in agony.

Finally, I landed, and I opened my eyes only to be blinded by true light once again. Colors blended together as the pain incapacitated any comprehension I could possibly muster, and the only thing I could think of was how to survive this mental torture.

Cool hands were placed on my forehead and I immediately latched onto the sensation. A warmth spread outward from the hands and where the warmth went, the pain stopped. I hoped for whatever it was to keep going, and fortunately for me, two more hands were placed on the top of my head. From there too a warmth spread and the pain dulled, and finally, my coherence began to come back to me.

"Kat, can you hear me?"

I groaned my answer, my voice still raw from screaming, as the warmth finally blocked all of the pain from my mind. My vision began to slowly come back into focus and my heavy breathing began to calm, letting my body slowly relax by degrees.

"Catherine!"

I turned my head slightly to the right and saw the Professor, and smiled at the worried look in his gaze. I still didn't speak, not wanting to force my throat to work, but my smile was all that the Professor needed.

"You had us scared for a moment," he told me. "When you passed in front of Erik, he believed you had overexerted yourself. He was wrong. I was wrong, and I apologize."

I shook my head at him.

_"There's nothing to apologize for,"_ I whispered mentally.

"Don't talk," Jean stated, and I saw her on my other side. "Your mind is very weak right now, and we're barely holding off the attackers."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her, but didn't reply mentally, taking her advice.

"Yes. You're under psychic attack as of this very moment. There are at least five psychics in the assault, which is why you passed out so quickly. Your mind had to shut down to save itself, but even so, you were crying out in pain. When we examined you, we felt the psychic fingerprints and managed to stop them before any real damage was done."

"We do not know who or why this attack occured," the Professor stated, "But rest assured, we will find out."

I nodded my thanks and tried to force my numb body to relax.

"Storm?" The Professor asked. Storm appeared at the Professor's side, her hand closed around a bottle. As I looked past her, many of the X-men and the Brotherhood were watching me, and I looked away from them. They must think I was a raving lunatic by this point.

"Lift her, please," the Professor commanded as Jean shook her head.

"They know you were attacked and that you had no control over your actions. They just don't know why."

Strong hands lifted me into a sitting position and I gratefully let myself drop onto the chest behind me. I didn't care who was helping me sit up by this point; I was too tired to even try to look. Storm lifted her hand and uncorked the...vial? Why did she have a vial? And what was the red liquid inside?

"This is a healing potion," the Professor stated. "It will heal you from the inside out as well in case of any internal brain damage. I wouldn't be surprised if you had some internal bleeding from your brain's defense."

Storm held the vial to my lips and I drank, bracing myself for the bitter taste that every medicine seemed to share. However, it never came. Instead of the bitter taste, I tasted cinnamon, and even the aftertaste was pleasant.

"This potion regenerates the body at an abnormal rate," the Professor explained. "Only someone with the mutant gene can take this and survive the healing effects."

"Who?" I croaked as the pain in my throat began to diminish.

"Beast actually created this formula. I helped him perfect it, but it was, in fact, his idea. Now, the other potion if you will?"

Storm lifted another vial, this time filled with blue liquid. This time when she lifted it to my lips, I drank eagerly, knowing it would probably be as tasteful as the other one. I was right. The taste of blueberries filled my senses and I smiled in satisfaction.

"This will restore your mutant energy so you can perform your mutant abilities. Again, it will only work for a mutant and will harm a normal human, so please use these with the utmost caution."

Between the two potions, I felt better than I had when I started this journey. I felt refreshed and joyful, my body aches gone. My head wasn't even sore from the beating I had taken, but I wasn't complaining.

"Professor, this stuff is amazing!" I cried out, able to talk without any pain whatsoever. "I haven't felt this good in a long time!"

"Clearly you haven't gotten laid," Toad replied, and I turned to glare at him.

"Blow me you stupid son of a-"

A hand clamped over my mouth before I could finish my sentence, and the Professor sent me a look reminescent of a parent telling their errant child to 'behave'. I grinned at the implications and nodded.

"I'll behave," I acknowledged. The Professor turned and wheeled away, and I finally looked around. I was lying on a metal box, one used for storing weapons. We weren't underground anymore; all of us were at home base. It seemed that when I was attacked, we had pulled back.

So...what happened to Zealot?

I didn't want to ask at the moment and I turned to stand. The hands swapped their hold on me and helped me to my feet. I turned to see Logan holding me, and I smiled tenderly at him. As I smiled, I lifted a hand and gently stroked his cheek, carressing him like I used to. I saw a spark of tenderness in his own eyes before he hardened once again, but it was fine. He didn't handle emotions well in public, and I could respect that.

"So what happened?"

I turned to look at the mutants gathered around the Professor and Erik, and Logan pulled me over to the group.

"As you heard, she was attacked, Wanda," Magneto stated.

"Yes. However, her attackers weren't located on Genosha, or the attack would have been greater in magnitude. This means that someone else knows we're here, and will try to stop us."

"How do we know that they're after all of us? What if it is just her?" Scarlet Witch continued to question.

"She's just a shitty psychic mutant," Toad replied.

This of course, made all of the X-men stiffen, including myself and Logan, but I was the one restraining my boyfriend from attacking Toad.

"Enough!" Erik cried out, throwing a scathing look at Toad. Toad held up his hands in surrender.

"All right, all right, I get it."

"Wanda does have a point, Charles, and regretably, so does Toad. Why would they chose her to go after? Unless, you've hidden something from us."

The Professor was already shaking his head.

"I haven't Erik, and I haven't the faintest clue why they would attack her out of all of us here. There must be a reason, although we don't know it yet."

"You," Magneto said, pointing to me. "What happened while you were unconscious?"

My heart stopped as I remembered the sand and the wierd name.

"Nothing," I replied, trying to cover the fact I was totally bullshitting him. "I just remember falling into darkness. Then I woke up." Magneto looked far from convinced, and began to question me again, but the Professor stopped him.

"Not right now, Erik. We can question her later." Magneto wasn't happy, nor did he agree, but he nodded, accepting the Professor's edict.

"We did well, battling through the Cerci Tunnels and defeating Zealot. But now a much bigger challenge awaits us."

"The X-Men've survived the worst you've thrown at us - so it's not like Apocalypse is gonna slow us down."

I slapped my forehead with my hand as I groaned. Bobby always had the right things to say to make everything worse, that was for damn sure.

"Hey 'Bobby' why don't you just shut yer yap?" Juggernaut more or less commanded. I agreed with the sentiment. These briefings were tedious enough without both sides wanting to draw blood from each other instead of Apocalypse.

"Oh, what a comeback!," Wade said, goading Juggernaut farther. "Wait, is everything you say supposed to make your IQ drop?" He winked in my direction and I glared at his. What the hell did he think he was doing? Then I sighed. He was Wade, and he was mischief personified.

"He's big AND dumb. With that combination, he can go places."

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

"So you must be lookin' ta die, huh," Juggernaut retorted, cracking his knuckles and glaring at the two antagonists.

"Like that's gonna happen at the hands of some bulked up, steroid freak like you," Bobby replied saucily.

"Do not trouble yourself, comrade. Allow me to deal with this Cossack!" Colossus replied, placing a hand on Bobby's shoulder. I just rolled my eyes. We had enough problems without the Russian tearing everything to bits.

"You're certainly welcom ta try, 'comrade'," Juggernaut replied, taunting the three of them. "Heck, snowboy and wonder woman over here are even welcome ta join in."

With this, I choked on my laughter, and with so much force behind the gails of laughter I was barely holding back, tears were bound to form. So I turned away from the group and ducked behind Logan as I tried to hold everything back.

"Jesus," Logan replied as he spotted my condition. "We're about to go at each other's throats and you find this funny?"

"He called him-" A small laugh broke out. "Wonder woman!" I placed two hands over my mouth and didn't dare to look at Wade, who was probably as indignant as hell.

"Wonder woman? In this suit? Then you haven't looked at yourself lately, Buttercup, because your wardrobe just screams gay."

Oh, this was killing me. Not being able to laugh was going to just make me fall over and die with all the exertion.

"So you must be lookin' ta die," Juggernaut replied, glaring at the both of them.

"Gentlemen, this is not the time nor place for your childish outbursts," the Professor said, stopping the hilarious interlude.

"B..b..but he started it! Why do you always have to-"

"Robert, be quiet!" Professor exclaimed, reprimanding him.

"Yes sir," Bobby replied sulkily.

"As I was saying," Magneto began, and I turned to see him glare at each of the antagonists, "A much bigger challenge awaits us. Apocalypse has placed several bombs on the lower seawall of Genosha. Should we attempt to retake the city, he would detonate them."

"Father, all of Genosha would flood - thousands would drown," Scarlet Witch replied.

"And that is why we must be cautious. A team is needed to remove the charges before we move further into Genosha. Let us proceed imeediately.

"The infiltration team for the X-men will go first," the Professor explained. "The team will be Jean Grey, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Barrage. Blink?"

"Yes sir!" Blink said, emerging from the group. "Here ya go, X-men!"

The portal appeared and I stepped forward confidently, Logan at my side.

"Jean, keep an eye on Catherine. And Catherine? If you feel anything disturbing or the slightest bit off, tell Jean and contact me at once. Is that clear?"

"Yeah," I answered as I stepped into the portal.

As I exited, I looked around and sensed no human in the vicinity. Logan exited, followed by Jean and Deadpool, and I looked back at Jean.

"I don't sense anyone," I told her, and she nodded.

"It seems we snuck in under the radar." She looked ahead and saw two doors, each leading in the opposite direction. "We'll split up from here." She hesitated, unsure of who to put with who, and I realized the Professor might have warned her about my freakout earlier.

"I can go alone," I volunteered.

"No. Whoever it was might attack you again, but we need another psychic to go with the other group. Deadpool, if you'll come with me?"

Both Deadpool and I looked at each other, as if we were asking 'Is it okay with you?'. We both shrugged our answer, and I laughed at the mirror image we did at one another. We were more alike than I had originally thought.

"Logan, if she starts acting wierd, call out and I'll hear."

"Right," he said with a nod.

For a moment, Jean's thoughts were clear to me, and I heard them echo as she walked away.

_'I hope the Professor doesn't hear about this,'_ she had said. As I turned from her and walked away, I let a smile slip onto my face. She was sticking her neck out for me like she used to, and she let me stay with Logan even though the Professor clearly told her not to. That was the Jean I had been used to. She was the confident and friend I had trusted. Not the Pheonix, but Jean, the woman who I had thought of as my mother.

"What are you smiling about?" Logan asked as we entered the next room. It was almost the exact same as the other one, except there were more boxes piled near the walls.

"Girl stuff," I vaguely answered. "Now lets go and find these bombs before the Brotherhood does. God knows if we'd hear the end of that one." The ambiance around us made it feel like old times again, and for that, I was grateful.

"This isn't some damn contest," Logan growled out, but he began to walk the slightest bit faster, and I smiled. A challenge was a challenge after all, and Logan could never walk away from one.

"Hey Logan, do you know what the word Amanra means?" I asked.

"No. Where did you hear it?"

"A dream," I answered.

"A dream?" he prompted.

"Yup, a dream."

"You're aggravating, you know that?" he replied, dropping the subject.

"Oh, like you're one to talk."

"Me? The hell did I do?"

"You're not aggravating at all? You don't skirt issues? You aren't hard headed?"

"I get the damn point," he growled, pissy that I was pointing out his flaws. However...

"And that's why I love you. You're impossible," I told him, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. Instead of waiting around to see his reaction, I moved away and into the next room, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"O hi," I said to the room full of people.

"A prisoner's escaped! Get her!"

I yelped at my mistake and went to run into the other room, but Logan was already flying past me in mid leap. They began to shoot at Logan and before conscious thought intruded, all four of my chakrams were flying towards the attackers, cutting off the arms that held their guns. With cries of pain they fell to the floor and Logan began to hack his way through various enemies, leaving either dead or mortally wounded men in his wake.

Together we dispatched of the entire room together, and I turned to Logan, only to see various bullet holes and rivulets of blood decorating his body. I winced for him but didn't offer help, knowing that his pride would prevent me from fawning over him. Instead he cocked his head to the side and the bullets were pushed out of his skin, where they fell to the floor. When he was completely healed, he began to walk toward the next door.

"C'mon," he commanded, and I sheathed my chakrams and followed him.

"Logan, did you hear? They're keeping prisoners!"

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Free them, you bastard! Jesus."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. And if you won't help me, you can go and shove-"

"I get it!" Logan snarled. "God dammit, woman." He turned away from me, missing the huge grin on my face. Arguing with him was so much fun, and irritating him was definately a life goal I had aquired.

As we entered the next room, I sensed Jean psychic power flaring, and I waited to see exactly what was the problem.

"What is it?" Logan asked.

"Jean's fighting."

"Then let's go-"

"She has Wade," I replied. "She's fine."

Logan looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he walked into the other room. I began to follow when I heard a lone shot, and Logan yelling,

"That actually tickled!"

The man screamed just before he was killed, and I rolled my eyes at Logan. The man had a terrible sense of humor and the oddest times of showing it.

I walked inside and saw Logan holding a key in his hand.

"What's that?" I asked.

"A key," he replied.

"Well no shit," I replied, and Logan glared.

"I don't know what it's to," he shot back. "You're the psychic."

"You should still have common sense," I replied, but looked around the room. I finally spotted a chest and opened it, only to see two swords stashed inside.

"C'mon," Logan said, quickly losing interest.

"Whoa," I gasped as I touched the sword's sheath.

"What is it?"

"The sword. It's imbued with something."

"Imbued?"

"Yeah. Like whoever made this sword put a mutant factor in it. I don't know what it is, but Wade would know." I picked up the twin swords and held them in my arms, and caught Logan glaring at them.

"Put them down!"

"No! If Wade doesn't want them, I do."

"You can't fight with swords!" he argued.

"So? Doesn't mean I can't sell them."

He rolled his eyes and growled, but turned back to the door.

"Let's just go."

I quickly followed him out of the door and into another room full of enemies. Without dropping the swords, I sent out two of my chakrams, all I could manage without my hands to guide them, and began to kill more enemies as Logan took most of the fire. I hated to admit it, but it was better me than him. I couldn't heal myself like he could.

As we entered the next room, I saw the doors began to open. Jumping the gun, I sent out my chakrams, but they froze as the door opened all of the way.

"Sorry Jean," I said sheepishly, and she smiled softly as she touched my mind. I was calmer now, not as stressed as I had been. Bantering with Logan was always relaxing.

"Why do you have swords?" she asked curiously.

"Oh! These are for you, Wade."

I handed the swords to him and he drew one of the blades. It crackled as it was drawn from the blade, and Wade grinned wickedly.

"I like it," he said as he sheathed his blade again. The two swords were quickly strapped to his back over his original swords, and he smiled in thanks.

"Thanks, dove."

"Stop calling me that!" I cried out and he ruffled my hair in response. I drew away and glared as I fixed my hair back into place.

"We're supposed to be sneaking around," Jean reminded us with a smile. "So let's go and find the bombs before we're discovered."

With a last glare at Wade, I followed Jean and Logan to the next room, and my eyes widened. How the hell did we enter a ship hangar?

"Thank heavens you're here!" I looked to see a man by a terminal, wringing his hands in desperation. "I'm the pilot of this dirigible and I've loaded it with escaped prisoners from Genosha. The only problem is, I can't get it free from the moorings."

"You finish prepping the ship," Jean told him with a nod, "And we'll clear the moorings for you."

"Thanks. One more thing, once you're done here there are many more prisoners still in their cells. Could you free them?"

"Yes. We will," I promised, glaring slightly at Logan. He didn't reply, but I knew he agreed with me. He would help me save these prisoners. I knew he would.

Without a word we split up. Logan and I went right as Jean and Wade went left. Of course, things were never as easy as they seemed, and we were soon under fire by enemy forces. I quickly ducked behind a mooring as bullents flew past me, and I grabbed my chakrams, yanking them from my belt.

"Logan isn't the only one that can fight under fire," I muttered, throwing my weapons at the enemy. As I exited from cover, the guns were pointed at me instead of Logan, and I held up my hands in front of me. Their bullets stopped a mere foot from my body and stayed suspended in the air, all under my control. The Zealot underlings stopped firing for a few seconds, and I smiled as my chakrams turned and headed toward them.

"Gotcha," I said with a smile as Logan and my weapons entered the fray. Between them, the enemies were decimated, and we turned back to the moorings. I used all four of my weapons to cut the steel into tiny pieces, letting it fall from the ship and onto the floor. Beside me, Logan was doing the same thing, and he finished his mooring almost as i had finished mine. We moved to the last two and quickly cut them both down.

"Go and help Jean," Logan commanded as enemies came from the door. I touched Jean's mind and grinned at Logan.

"She doesn't need me. Trust me."

Logan killed the two men who came through the door and flicked the blood from his claws.

"They done?" he asked as the last mooring fell.

"Yeah," I replied, turning back toward the man beside the consol. "Where'd he go?"

As I asked the question, the ship's engines fire up, and I smiled in victory.

"Looks like he's out of here," Logan replied sarcastically.

"He has precious cargo. Leave him alone," I stated, slapping his chest.

Logan and I made it back up front, and Jean pointed to the doorway on her side.

"I feel human presences over this way. They seem terrified, which means..."

"They're the prisoners," I stated, nodding. "Then let's not waste any time. Let's go and free some prisoners."


	7. Closer Than Ever

So, as requested by a particularly persistant midgit friend of mine, I sat down and wrote the next chapter. As a slight warning, it's angsty. I didn't plan it, but as I tried to write, I just couldn't change what was going down. I'm sure every writer has a case of the chapter running away from them. Lol. I always write impromtu anyways, but still. This is a bit odd, so please, leave critical reviews or show me love. Anything as long as it's feedback.

But, as always, thanks to ALL the readers, and I mean even the anonymous - if I even spelled it right...darn wordpad doesn't have spellcheck - readers, who have taken the time to read and review. You all make my day, and you keep me happy through my personal and writing life. I know waiting for this long has probably been irritating, but I promise to be a good little writer and sit down to write more and more.

*salute*

I've been stressed, since the Vice President of my company is coming to the store I'm working at to inspect us. I'm just a bundle of nerves. *shudder*

Wish me luck.

And with that, I shall stop rambling and go back to sleeping.

Oh! I'm also looking for some good stories to read. Any romance will do, as long as it's curde, cuddly, and makes you warm and fuzzy on the inside. I've literally read through my vast collection of romance novels, and I need moar! Moar I tell you!

Erm. Continue with the story. O.O

I trailed the three mutants, my focus concentrated on the dangerously high emotions of the prisoners. Their fear was increasing, as was their anxiety and panic, which boded ill for us. That meant either they were being actively tortured, or there was a trap meant for their harm and we were to trip it. I didn't voice my opinion, giving the reins of control to Jean automatically. She was the better of the two of us anyways.

Damn. Not the time for being emo. Focus, girl. Mission. Prisoners. Go.

Jean spared a glance back, probably sensing the chaotic emotions in my mind before I could shield them, and she pursed her lips. Even though she was my teacher, she was also a vital part of this mission, and I knew she wouldn't allow me to stay if I showed more signs of duress. I was already on thin ice as it was.

Focus, girl. Focus.

"What is it, Jean?" Logan asked, looking at her, then following her gaze to me. I looked away, huffing, feeling guilty and abrasive toward the both of them. At least keep their relationship private.

Shit. Where had that thought come from?

"Catherine?" Jean queried, stopping.

"Fine. Just go," I answered immediately, jamming my hands into my pockets. I was feeling increasingly edgy, agitated, and feeling the urge to strike out at something.

Or someone.

"What are you feeling?" Jean asked, ignoring me.

"I told you I'm fine," I snarled, my eyes spitting fire.

"Whoa, down babe," Wade said, his hands going up in a defensive gesture. Logan glared at him for the nickname, but now Wade was looking at me with concern. "You do seem off though."

"What do you know!?" I snarled at him, my anger increasing.

I could almost scent Jean on Logan's skin as they writhed under silken sheets, her fire red mane coating his chest, branding him as hers.

"What is going on?" Logan snarled back at me.

"Shut the fuck up! All of you!" I could feel my power building within my system, the image of the two of them so vivid, so real, that it shocked me.

"Professor! Something's wrong!" Jean called out, and immediately, a portal was opened. Instead of complying with the traitorous bitch, I turned and fled, leaving the two of them behind to fuck like bunnies if they so wanted. What did I care? I was only a substitute. A nothing. Someone to warm his bed until Jean was ressurrected.

"Kat! Wait!" I heard Wade from behind me, and instead of blocking out all three people, I allowed Wade entrance. Jean's mind attacked the weak barrier I had erected, so I kept running, even as she tore it down. I knew she was coming after me and Logan was hot on her heels, so I quickly turned to the one person I had to trust.

"_Blink, this is Kat. If you have any interest at all in my sanity, please let me and Wade through a portal and lead us somewhere private. For the love of god, don't ask why. I'm having some sort of breakdown._"

"_For the one who saved me, of course. Where to?_" she whispered back telepathically as I supported the bridge. I was glad she didn't try to ask any questions or pry. She must have sensed something or...fuck it. I didn't care. Just get me out of the room with my cheating boyfriend.

"_The most private place where no mutants or humans will find us. Somewhere where I can vent and no one will know._"

"_Portal to Oz, coming right up._"

I snorted at the odd injection of humor, and leapt through the portal, landing heavily on a field of grass. I heard an expletetive from beside of me, and the small zap of the portal closing behind us.

"Now. Why the fuck did I just bail on the most important mission that you gave us?" Wade groaned out, rolling onto his back to simply stare at me. There was no accusation, no pity, no confusion. He kept his face carefully blank, and for that, he became my lifeline.

"Because of my boyfriend fucking her! I saw it! I know he fucked her and she cried out his name! I saw them together!"

"Whoa!" Wade cried out, running a hand through his hair. "They haven't done anything! Hell, even I wouldn't have time for a quickie with her since she's been alive."

"He. Fucked. Her!" I snarled, baring my teeth at Wade, something I had never done before.

"Shit, Kat. Calm down."

"Don't tell me to-"

He cut me off by pressing his lips to my own, and my anger popped like a balloon, slowly drifting into astonishment. What was he doing?

Satisfied that I had calmed, he pulled away.

"Something's fucking with you big time." I just blinked, still feeling the texture of his lips against my own. "Kat. We kissed. Move on to more important things."

"Damn it, that is important, you jackass!"

"Look, it shut you up. It shuts all women up. I just have that effect."

"You impossible-"

"Catherine!" His snarl of anger brought me out of my stupor, and I stared at him, giving him my undivided attention. "Something's planting these images inside you, or fucking with your intenernal pms woman syndrome."

"Wait, what-"

"This isn't you. You wouldn't think of anything like this on a mission."

"_Catherine, you will tell me where you are this instant._" The Professor's voice was more stern than I had ever heard it, and I flinched under its intensity.

"Wade, one second. Hold that thought. Professor's found me." He rolled his eyes, but didn't fight me talking to him. He merely sat up and stretched his neck like nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. What an annoying but useful trait.

"_I'm safe for now, Professor. Wade thinks something is screwing with my mind. I got out of the mission before I could become a liability. That's all. As for where I am, Blink knows. I'm safe, I'm out of range of any mutants or humans, and I'm with Wade as a bodyguard._"

The Professor was silent for a moment, and I sighed and lowered my guards, something I always kept around me. I valued my privacy highly, but in this case, my pride could bite me.

I allowed him to see my memories, feel my feelings, even see through my eyes. It was the ultimate connection of two psychics, only available at total entrance to one's mind. Meaning, it had to be done willingly or it wouldn't be done at all.

As he sifted through what I saw and what I was feeling, I could feel his agreement.

"_You were right to leave when you did, though I would appreciate a fair warning next time. You will report back when you have calmed down. Understood?_"

"_Yes, Professor. I'm sorry to have let you down._"

"_You have done no such thing. You merely took yourself out of a potential, if not successful, psychic attack. For that, I cannot fault you. If he knows your fears and weaknesses, it is either a well coordinated attack on your person, or a powerful empathetic mutant. For now, stay where you are. Calm down. Then report back._"

I gave the mental equivalent of a nod and relaxed visibly when the Professor broke the connection.

"I take it he's gone?" Wade asked, plucking a blade of grass and blowing it at me.

"Yeah," I agreed, swatting the grass away from my face. "I'm calm now. You're safe."

"I could have kicked your ass," he scoffed, picking another blade to throw at me.

"You'll back that up when we get back to the X-mansion," I stated, letting him throw the grass at me. However, the wind shifted, and it carried it away before it hit me.

"You know, I don't have to be a psychic to know that was an attack on your mind."

"Yeah, I figured that," I muttered. "Just don't know why. Or how would they know of my secret fear that Jean would come back and take him? No matter if it isn't my thought, I'm always going to remember that image." Now I plucked a blade of grass and threw it into the wind. Now that the anger had passed, I felt numb, as if I was in shock, but I felt the onslaught of tears coming on, and knew that eventually before I got back, I was going to have to cry this one out.

"That's what they counted on. They attacked you that once, right? With brute force." I nodded. "You survived because of Jean and Professor. Now, they're trying a different approach. One an assassin would use."

"Assassin?" I echoed back, immediately dubious. "I call bullshit."

"Shows how little you know," he shot back. "If I wanted a mark to suffer, that would be the way I would go. Drive away their friends and family until they had no one to depend on. Then take their sanity little by little. Make them beg to die."

"You're a bloodthirsty son of a bitch," I generally stated, meaning it. I wasn't accussing or labeling him, I was stating a fact. I knew he was a skilled operative and knew that in his line of work, he had to have that side of him, which I didn't fault him for. It was his life, his job. And by the flicker of surprise in his eyes, I saw that I had caught him offguard. "But it does make sense. Logan is the one who means the most in my life. To drive him away would break me, if only for a time."

"It takes balls to admit that," Wade stated, throwing another blade of grass. Never had I been this relaxed since this Apocalypse fight had started. Never had I been this at ease, and to think, it was in the aftermath of a psychic attack.

"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it," I quoted, and Wade quirked an eyebrow.

"Well said."

"Can't take credit. It's from Buffy."

"As in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" he asked incredulously. "You watched that show?"

"Okay, you know what? Fuck off. I'd have sex with Spike if I could."

"Least your not an Angel fan."

"Now look who's the secret fan."

"Hn." I laughed at his slight pout, then sobered as I lapsed back into what had happened.

"I was so angry I could have hurt one of them," I admitted. "I really wanted to kill Jean and hurt Logan for hurting me."

"Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned," Wade stated sagely. "You were pissed that you thought he was cheating on you. Understandable, even if it's under odd circumstances."

"But I wanted to KILL Jean. The mentor and mother I never had. The one who gave her life to keep the world safe from herself."

"She'd come back. She's the Pheonix, right?"

"Dammit Wade!"

"All right, all right. That was probably whoever it was enhancing your emotions to the brink of madness. Part of the 'fuck with the mind' thing."

"Then how am I going to stop it?"

"Fuck if I know." I glared. "Look, I know fights. I can kill you in three ways right now and look like I never moved. That's my skill. As for all this psychic shit? That's your alley, not mine. All I know is that someone is getting off on fucking with you, and he's a sadistic bastard."

"So eloquent," I muttered, but strangely, his caustic attitude was calming. It wasn't the comfort I was expecting, but still I felt the tears begin to prickle at my eyes. "Dammit. I was hoping I would move past the crying stage into the pissy stage."

"Don't you dare start crying on me," he stated, the male in him rebelling at the sight of waterworks he couldn't prevent.

"Too late," I stated as I closed my eyes, the first of many tears dripping down my cheeks. I heard him shift and quickly warned, "Hug or comfort me and it will get worse. That's the only warning you get before I start sobbing onto your chest."

"Then sit on my lap and ignore the hard on."

I didn't reply to his comment as I normally would have; I darted into his arms, buried my face into his muscular chest, and bawled like a baby. One arm was around me in an instant and his chin rested on the top of my head, leaving one hand free.

In this moment, he became the best friend I never had. He was here in the most important time that I needed him, talking and explaining things that would have taken me longer to get, forcing me to conclusions I had needed to see. In his arms I found the safe haven I had found in Logan's; he became my protector as all that I knew crumbled around me as I cried. Even at my worst, even at my most pathetic and vunerable state, he was here, comforting me even as he scanned the area around us for enemies, leaving one hand free in case he needed to defend me. I felt nothing more than a scared teenage human girl, one not even capable of defending himself, but Wade was here to pick up the slack.

I didn't know how long I had cried, nor how much time had passed since I had stopped crying, but now I was reduced to small hiccups as Wade simply held me against him, letting me draw from his strength of character. He said no words, nor did he try anything he could have with me in this state. He simply held me and comforted me in the only way he could.

"Thank you," I said softly. "I know you don't want to hear that, but thank you for being here for me. I needed someone here for me, and I'm glad it was you." I could feel the small fidgit he tried to hide, but I knew he was uncomfortable. He was probably only used to seducing women, not playing the gallant white knight as a friend. But it was all that I could say, and it was all that needed to be said between us. I knew that things between him and I would never be the same again. We were best friends, both sharing a secret between us, joining us together.

"So do I," he admitted softly, almost under my hearing range, but in that moment, I felt the emotions pouring off of him. He was lonely. So lonely the pain of it pierced my heart. He'd longed for companionship he could truly trust, not someone he would have to use and discard at the end of the day. Someone that would bear their soul to him and in return, bear the burden of his soul. Like family.

Okay, it sounded corny as hell, but it was the only way I could explain it. He wanted something more than a friend. He wanted understanding and acceptance on a deeper level than a friend. Not a girlfriend, but something close to it. I would never feel that way for Wade, as he probably knew, but I felt more like a sister to him than I ever had with anyone. None of the mutants even at the school had bothered to get to know me, to comfort me, as Wade had done.

God, I was rambling. I must still be in shock.

"Are you ready to go back? It's dusk."

"Yeah. I'm ready."

"You're not going back until you're yourself again." I laughed softly, not moving from the safe haven of his arms.

"I think I can manage that. But you know everyone's going to bombard us with questions until we can't see straight?"

"Don't worry. I'll protect you as long as you try to convince my boss that the nine iron wasn't in my possession."

"Just because that mutt Fluffy sent you down here doesn't mean that I can get you out of it that easy."

"Yeah, well, implant something in his brain. Tell him I didn't do it."

I began to laugh in earnest now.

"You hit the dog, you take the consequences."

"It humped my leg, then when I kicked it off, it peed on me."

Now I howled with laughter.

"So THAT'S what happened! Hah! You deserved it if you hit a dog."

"I didn't hit the dog. It was the bottle of hair dye that hit the dog."

"Oh sweet Jesus. I can't even imagine the things wrong with that statement," I muttered, pinching my nose. "A nine iron and hair dye. Jesus."

"What, it isn't that strange. Why, this one time-"

"Don't even. I want my sanity. Don't you dare try to ruin it."

We both stood, but instead of releasing me, Wade shifted his arm and placed it around my shoulders, his eyes mirroring his protective stance. Did he realize he was that transparent in this moment? Probably not, and I wouldn't be the one to tell him and throw that guard back into place.

"_Blink, I'm ready._"

"_Good. Your boyfriend's worried. He's going to chew you up and spit you out, X-man._"

"_Yeah, I figured I was in deep shit. Go ahead and throw up the portal_."

In response, the portal opened, and I sighed. I didn't want to go back to reality. In this idylic meadow, I'd found a brother in someone I hadn't expected, and I'd found peace. But in life, I never had a choice, and neither did I here. My friends and the world needed me. My needs could wait.

Wade and I stepped through at the same time, both of us blinking when we realized it was night. How long _had _we been gone?

"Welcome back, Catherine."

"Professor," I stated, much calmer as Wade anchored me to his side. The Professor missed no detail of our new stance, nor did he miss the new relaxation I exuded. He was very shrewd, and he would figure out what had happened in mere moments. Wade and I had been friends already, and since the Professor knew I had been breaking down...we got closer.

He nodded, apparently satisfied at the slight probing of our emotions. It was probably instinctive on his part, seeing as he felt protective toward Logan as well, but he didn't sense any romance, so we were off the hook. But boy did it almost make me feel like a guilty teenager.

"Catherine! I felt you come back!" Instantly I was wrapped into a hug, and my head buried in a sea of fire red hair. A wave of guilt hit me like a tidal wave; this woman had done so much to me and I had nearly tried to kill her.

"I'm sorry, Jean. I was under attack, and I knew I had to get away before I snapped."

"I felt the tension in the air," she admitted as she pulled back, noting the way Wade's arm was draped over me protectively. "I also felt a subtle vibration of power and was trying to trace it. I was distracted and allowed you to get attacked. I was careless, and I apologize."

"No, it was my fault for not realizing it was an attack sooner. If I had, I could have stopped it before it became too much. I still need more training."

"You've become a strong class three mutant. That is proof that you've learned."

I smiled hesitantly at her, but the moment was broken when I sense the fury of Logan. Directed at me.

"Damn," I muttered, and Jean sighed.

"He's been uncontrollable at your absence. He nearly attacked Blinke before I had to calm him down." I snorted.

"You locked him in the X-Jet, didn't you?" I asked, remembering that was how she usually had to 'calm' Logan. It always involved some sort of isolation.

"It seemed prudent at the time."

"Mind throwing him back in?"

"Only if he doesn't behave himself," she stated primly.

Now, I saw him stalking to me, and I sighed. Here comes the storm.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" Logan snarled as he stalked up to me.

"Don't make a scene. We'll go into the X-Jet," I quickly stated. "See you later, Wade."

"She better be in one piece when she gets back," Wade warned before strolling off, as if he hadn't thrown out a subtle death threat. But of course, it only made things worse. Logan, even through the haze of his anger, now noticed that Wade had his arm around me. His eyes narrowed even more, and now, I felt a real pang of fear. Would he be capable of hitting a woman? Hell, would he hit me?

"Then come on," he growled out, his animalistic side surfacing. It was rare when he lost all control like this, and he was only holding on by a thin thread. He respected that I didn't want to cause a scene, and that meant he was still thinking rationally.

For now.

We made it to the X-Jet and as soon as the doors shut, I was rouglhy slammed against the wall. I grunted, expecting that he would do something of the like, and kept in the true scream of pain I'd wanted to do.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Logan repeated, his bared teeth inches from my face. I lowered my gaze, a submissive gesture, and forced my body to relax slighly, another submissive gesture.

"Calming down from the attack," I answered honestly.

"That doesn't tell me shit," he snarled, pushing against me. I hissed, but otherwise, didn't show the pain. It was vital I make him understand and calm down before he did any real damage.

"I don't know exactly where I was. Blink just transported me somewhere quiet and alone where I could use my powers if necessary to knock off some steam. I honestly didn't know where I was, and I still don't."

I felt the first layer of his anger fade away, but he wasn't past his fury yet.

"Why did you run?"

"The attack was brutal," I answered honestly. He pressed against me again and I elaborated. "It involved some of my most personal fears. I just had to get out before I snapped."

"What fears?"

I could feel leftover tears prickling my eyes, but I tried to blink them away. I was never one to try to use tears for my advantage, and I didn't want to cry in front of Logan. I never wanted him to think me weak in any way.

"Of you and Jean," I said honestly, looking down at the floor. "The Professor said he implanted images into my head, and he was right. They were real as if I was watching it happen." When Logan was silent, I continued. "And as I got angry, scared, and hurt, he amplified my feelings, which made me lose control. The Professor believes it to be an empath of some type. That's how he could manipulate my emotions."

"Why did you run?"

"I was going to hurt you and Jean. I got out before I could. That's the truth Logan. He wanted us to fight among ourselves. He knew if push came to shove, I would lose and eventually die by one of you." Where was this insight coming from? But somehow, I knew it was true. I knew that was his true intent. "He really fucked with my mind and I allowed him to do it. So I deserve anything you dish out." I wasn't trying to make him feel guilty. In fact, I was trying to make him hurt me so I felt less guilty. How masochistic was that?

"We have not slept together," Logan stated, his anger close to dissapating.

"I know. Wade told me that you haven't had time alone together to even do it."

At the mention of Wade's name, his grip on my arms tightened to the point of bruising, but I schooled my features to hide the pain.

"And why is his scent all over you?" Logan did have a sensative nose, and I had no doubt that he could smell his scent on me. I wasn't going to try to lie when clearly nothing had gone on. _Except for the kiss, which apparently didn't matter to him._ Okay, it didn't count. It didn't feel the same as when Logan kissed me.

"Because he was comforting me," I answered, again, honestly. I wasn't going to lie to get out of this. I deserved this for letting the psychic into my mind in the first place. "As I was breaking down, he was there to talk me through, force me to realize that what I saw wasn't a memory, that sort of thing. And at the end, I cried and he held me. That's why I smell like him."

"I smell him on your lips," he snarled back.

"My face was in his chest. What do you think I'm going to smell like?" I shot back sarcastically. I couldn't help my response; it was second nature to be sarcastic.

I felt his anger spurt again, but instead of hurting me, as he had been doing, he instead fused his mouth with mine, his hands roaming my arms and shoulders as he moved his chest against mine, masking Wade's scent with his own. Immediately, I responded to the kiss, ignoring the fact that he was only doing it to claim his territory, and focused on the fact that I was being kissed as if we were together again.

His knee parted my legs and I allowed the action, my hands going to his back as my nails dug into his skin. He growled at the action, and instead of stopping us, like he had before, he allowed the kiss to deepen into something wholy erotic and sensual. I couldn't do anything, summon any defense, against this Logan. The dominant man who haunted my dreams, the one who was with me night by night, keeping me warm against the cold nights alone on the X-Jet.

Finally, he broke the kiss and disentangled himself, though I was left on the wall, breathing heavily, my lips swollen and my eyes dialtated with the promise of pleasure. I quickly looked away, knowing he was automatically going to berate me for a lapse of judgement, or something of the like, letting my hair hide my obvious signs of ravishment.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized. "I'll try not to do that again. It was my fault."

"The hell are you talking about?" he asked, generally confused. A moment later, I heard him exhale, and through the strands of my hair, I saw him rake a hand through his own hair. "I didn't kiss you to make you fucking apologize about it," he stated.

"I'm sorry," I stated automatically, then jumped as his fist slammed against the side of the X-Jet. It was quiet for a moment, then Logan spoke, his voice full of disbelief.

"You're afraid of me." I didn't answer, afraid to speak the truth. "You've never been fucking afraid of me, damn it, and you ain't starting now." I bit the apology before it could spew out, but Logan probably knew what I was going to say. "Don't apologize. What are these bastards doing to you?" He asked it rhetorically, thinking aloud to himself, but I answered him anyway.

"Making me lose my mind. Making me doubt who I am, who I trust, trying to push everyone away until I'm alone, weak, defenseless and scared, and going insane."

"The fuck they are." I didn't see his movement, but suddenly, I was pulled into his embrace. "They're fucking with you bad, ain't they?"

"Yeah," I answered back softly.

"Look, I told you before. I'm with you, not with Jean." The age old fear still wouldn't let me believe it, but Logan knew it was there. It was what caused this whole scandal today, and he was intellegent enough to know that it would be there until I let it go.

"Would you be happier with her? She's everything I'm not." As the gentle but true words from my heart poured forward, I could do nothing to stop them. "You love her more than anything. I know you do. She was there before I was, and...I'm not trying to be the martyr, but if you love her more, go to her. I won't stop you. I love you, Logan, more than anything I am or anything I know. With that means I want you happy. If it takes Jean to do that, I'll accept it."

He was quiet, but I could feel him bristle.

"You would leave."

"I would have to. I couldn't bear to see you with her, but I would want you to be happy."

"You'd walk away just like that." He stated it, but underneath his gruff exterior, I felt him asking much more than that. This was not a simple statement. This was Logan's way of showing vunerability without actually showing it.

Translation: You would leave me and not even think twice about it?

"No. I'd break, and that's the truth. I love you, and I love everything about you. You are my life, Logan, whether you know it or not. You're my everything. You saved me from my parents. You took me in when I had no one. I loved you then and I love you know."

A slight shudder, so quick I had almost imagined it, shot through him, but I knew it was real. It was relief. I could feel it rolling off him in waves.

"You are mine," he stated, burrowing his nose into my hair, his anger a thing of the past. As he nuzzled me, a lone tear slid down my cheek, and he pulled back to look at me.

"Happy tears," I answered, knowing his question before he even asked. "I'm happy to be in your arms again. I thought I had lost you to her completely."

"I told you. You are mine."

With that, he returned to the crook of my shoulder, and I laid my head on his own shoulder as I embraced him, reveling in the tender love he was showing me in this rare moment he let his guard down.

It would get me through the rest of this mental torture. I knew it.


	8. Amanra

The next morning, we were quickly paired into groups. The night before I had been left behind on various missions, which irked and pleased me. I wanted to go and help, but even more so I wanted to rest. And for the night, there were no mental attacks, no drama involving me, and Logan even slept with me that night, his arms around me protectively. When I woke, he was gone, but it didn't bother me. I knew he wasn't the best for showing a relationship, and had accepted that long ago.

So the next morning when we were paired into groups, he had been chosen for a frontal assault type of group and sent in first without a psychic. The professor kept close tabs on them and when they had cleared out a suitable path through various enemies, he finally sent me through the Blink portal with Storm.

Storm and I were a small two man team designed for stealth and secrecy, which had strangely been Magneto's idea. Xavier had deemed the idea sound enough to try and here we stood, looking around the strange walls of Genosha.

"So what do we need to do?" I asked Storm, who I looked to as our leader. I sure as hell didn't want to lead.

"We need to follow with the first team. They'll be killing the enemies for us and we need to free the prisoners in their wake." I nodded once and we began walking the various halls, both of us quiet as we tried to move without being noticed. Of course, when was it ever easy with our luck?

"There!" I whirled at the voice, my hand going immediately to my chakrams, but Storm was already on the move.

She lifted her hands and her eyes glowed white as she began to call on her powers, so I took the offensive, flinging two of my chakrams down the hall. This distracted the men long enough for Storm to call lightning and send it down the hall, where it jumped from man to man before it slammed into the wall behind them. I yanked my chakrams back, and they sliced through various body parts before they came back to hover beside of me.

"Good distraction," Storm said as she lowered her arms. "You've always been great at picking up subtle clues from your fighting partner."

"Thanks," I said with a smile, never putting my chakrams away. I wasn't going to be caught off guard again and this time, I would be ready.

"Do you sense any more humans?" I stretched myself out, trying to scan the halls, but there was some sort of interference in the way.

"I can't tell. There's something blocking me down here. It wasn't here yesterday," I explained quickly, trying to absolve myself. Storm smiled, hearing the defensive note in my voice, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"We're lower in the city than we were yesterday. Can you pinpoint the interference?"

"Yeah, of course," I muttered. "This way." Now I took the lead, making sure to check behind every corner and scan for any of Apocalypse's henchmen before I popped into the hallway. Storm allowed me to lead, but she was watchful as well. Even now, she was still my fighting teacher, and she probably was watching to see how I held up under battle. This was my first time with her in an actual fight of life and death, and strangely it felt like normal training sessions with her.

We rounded the corner and my head began to ache viciously, the headache sudden and extremely painful.

"What's wrong?" Storm asked quickly, kneeling to look into my eyes.

"My head," I groaned. "We're close. It's that way." I managed to latch my weapons back on my belt and let my entire power drop. I didn't want to levitate, I didn't want to sense, and I just wanted this headache to go away.

"I can't leave you here. Come on." She drug me up forcibly and I tried to keep above the pain swimming in my head. I didn't contact the professor for help, because I didn't want him to feel what I was feeling. He'd had enough of worrying about me for a lifetime.

"God damn it," I swore as the headache double in pain. I stumbled to the floor and Storm let me go, quickly running to the end of the hallway. I heard cackling and an explosion, then amazingly, the pain was gone as if it had never been.

"_**Catherine. Are you all right? I could not locate you.**__"_

"_Yeah, Professor. There was some sort of mental block, but it's gone now."_

I looked up, the Professor still linked psychically with me, and both of us saw the man cowering in the corner. He was dressed in ragged clothing, complete with tears and dirt all over the material.

"About time you people got here. Apocalypse is running Genosha – you have to stop him." I got to my feet, my strength already returning, and walked over to Storm, who helped the man to his feet.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly.

"Name's Caleb Bann. I'm the director of this hydroponics department." I blinked at the department name, not knowing what he was talking about, but Storm nodded like she understood.

"Why aren't you in prison like everyone else from Genosha?"

"I'm being forced to keep up food production; otherwise they'll let everyone starve in their cells."

"Things are going to return to normal here real quick. We're out to free Genosha," I stated, trying to bolster the man. He just looked like a pathetic, whipped puppy and I hated it.

"That's good news. Here, let me open this door for you. It'll get you into the next area." He turned back to the consol behind him and began to press buttons. I peeked over his shoulder, but I understood none of the scientific jargon on the screen, and huffed. Perhaps I was lax in my studies, but this was just getting ridiculous.

"Thanks." Now, I connected with Blink. "_Blink, could you teleport Mr. Bann to the safety of the Sanctuary?"_

"_You got it, X-man._" Now, the professor left me, probably to question the prisoner, and left me as quietly as he had come. The portal appeared and the man stepped through, leaving me alone with Storm. She was angry, I knew, but only allowed mild irritation to show on her face.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Willingly starving people just because he doesn't care. If this man hadn't continued food production, there would be no Genosha to save." I was quiet and she whirled, motioning for me to follow. "What do you sense now?" I caught up to her quickly and threw out my senses, fanning out past my comfortable zone in an effort to please. It was a bit painful, but nothing like the headache from before.

"I sense a mutant," I finally said. "Powerful enough for me to sense, anyways." Which meant he was definitely class two or above.

"Lead the way," Storm stated, and I took the lead, unhooking my weapons. I didn't take them out; I let them stay on my belt since no one was around to attack us. A few hallways and two dead henchmen later, we arrived at the scene of a mutant I didn't expect to see.

"Blob?" Storm asked in disbelief. He was pressed against a metal slab of wall, seawater pouring from the cracks around him, and two bombs on either side of him. My mouth literally dropped open; Blob was definitely not the heroic type, so what the hell was he doing?

"Hey, what's an X-man doing here?" he asked.

"Helping to save Genosha. What are you doing pressed against that wall, Blob?" Storm asked it so nicely, but I really wanted to know how he got into this predicament.

"I was making a break for it when this bomb went off. I knew there wasn't enough time ta run so I decided I better hold this wall together. What are you laughin' about?" Storm turned her speculating gaze to me, who was doubled over in laughter.

"Well, the only thing saving us is literally your fat ass." This prompted another round of laughter from me and another glare from Blob.

"Ha, ha, very funny, cupcake. Why don't you shut up and defuse the other bombs before they go off and kill us all?"

Both Storm and I looked around, each of us looking for the detonators. There was no classic ticking or time display on any of the machinery on the ground, and the sea water was getting to Blob's ankles. He couldn't hold on for much longer, I was sure, but he would never admit that.

"Catherine." I looked to Storm, who pointed up at the ceiling. The detonators were hung from a small platform, but the bridge leading to it was completely destroyed in an attempt to keep the detonators safe. Unfortunately for them, both Storm and I could fly.

I lifted off just as the air currents around her lifted her into the air, and I flew right as she flew left. I looked at the detonator in frustration as I realized there was a code I had to input and glanced over at Storm. She was frantically pressing a series of buttons on her consol, but she finally stood up and shook her head at me, signaling she couldn't hack it. So instead, I flew back into the air and sent my chakrams into the metal, cutting it into various pieces. Fortunately, the bomb didn't explode with the loss of the detonator; it merely disarmed itself.

"Thank god," I muttered as I flew back to the ground. I heard lightning cackle through the air and I looked to see Storm's consol exploding. A few pieces of shrapnel pelted my face, but I brushed them off as I walked toward Blob. "There. Bombs defused."

"Yeah, yeah, ya done real good, X-man. All the bombs are defused. Now if it ain't too much trouble, would ya do something to fix this wall I'm tryin' to support?"

As Storm moved to the consol, I felt humans closing in on our presence.

"I'll cover you guys. Hurry up with whatever you're doing." Storm didn't say anything; merely continued her attempt to hack into the consol. I drew two of my chakrams and began to spin them, and as the door flew open, I let my weapons fly.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

We finally fought our way to the next entrance, much to my displeasure. Wasn't Logan's group supposed to cut a path for us? Because they were doing a damn shitty job of it and I was tired of fighting and even listening to Blob.

But I was finally given a break when Blob stopped at the doorway and smirked at the both of us.

"You X-men ain't use in a fight – where'd you be if I wasn't here ta save ya?" I deadpanned at the thankless mutant. Who would have saved his sorry ass if we hadn't? Storm placed a placating hand on my arm, telling me wordlessly to shut my mouth.

"It's amazing we lasted this long without you, blob." Her sarcasm had me cracking a smile.

"So what's the plan?" he asked, and I nearly begged for him to go somewhere other than here.

"We'll have blink teleport you to the sanctuary when Professor Xavier can explain the situation to you."

"Xavier? I don't like talkin ta that guy. I always get the feelin he's readin my mind." And this was in a nutshell why I hated Blob. He lacked any sort of common sense and always, I mean always, made a part of my soul die when he talked.

"_Blink, could you get blob_?" I asked when Storm finally nodded to me.

"_Already on it guys_."

When Blob was teleported out, I threw my hands in the air and yelled, "Thank sweet merciful heavens!" Storm spared me a small, disproving look, but her smile betrayed what she really felt.

"Now that you have your freedom-"

"Finally!"

"We can continue." I placed my hand on the door, but I didn't open it.

"Storm, there's tons of people in the next room. I think we somehow got ahead of Logan's group."

"Leave it to me," Storm said, lifting her hands to the ceiling. Her eyes began to glow so I knew she was serious when she told me to open the door. "Now." I pressed the button and immediately dove out of the way of her line of sight.

As she began to channel, I heard various yells from inside and simultaneously saw Logan's group appear behind us. They began to run toward us, but Storm was unleashing her most powerful attack. Raw electricity came from the walls and ceiling, striking like lightning at the various enemies inside of the room. Finally when it quieted, Storm lowered her hands and I chanced a peek inside.

"Jesus," I swore. She'd taken down ten or more men with one attack. "I didn't know you could do that…."

"I don't do it during training," she explained as Logan's group caught up to us. "It would cause too much damage." Sure enough, black scorch marks and small holes showed where the lightning had come from, and the floor was a mass of charred scorch marks.

"What are you two doing?" Deadpool asked conversationally, and earned a glare from Logan.

"Seems we got ahead of you," I explained to him. "The prisoners are up in the room ahead, but there's more henchman to go through."

"Leave it to us," Logan growled out, glaring at me. "You two stay here." I didn't want to argue, nor did I want to go first, so I waved him on.

"Then have fun," I stated calmly. Logan watched me for a moment, then walked past us, followed by Deadpool, Gambit, and Colossus. And a few moments later, gunfire erupted. I merely sat and examined my nails, causing Storm to sigh.

"You'll get our turn," she said. "Plus, the prisoners are inside. They come before any fight." So sue me, a part of me wanted to fight with Logan. But for now, I would sit and-

"Hi," I greeted to the henchman rounding the corner. Before he shouldered his gun, my chakram sped through him, killing him on the spot. I recalled my weapon and let it fall to the ground beside of me as I waited out the gunfire.

"How are you doing?" Storm finally asked between bursts of gunfire.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you had any psychic attacks since we started this mission?"

"Strangely…no." I stopped examining my nails and looked up at my teacher. "I've felt nothing unnatural in my mind. No attacks, no memories, and no amplified feelings. I feel…normal. But why would they let me recover? Wouldn't they want to wheedle me down?" Storm shrugged.

"I don't know. I honestly can't guess of what they can accomplish by giving you a day off." Disgruntled, I got to my feet and looked at the doorway. It had been quiet for a few seconds, and I was ready to get the prisoners and get back out. I scanned the rooms and now only found aura's covered in fear and Logan's group.

"It's clear," I stated, ending the conversation between us, and the chakram on the ground whipped up to hover above my hand. We walked into a circular room, and another room in the middle of it. I saw Gambit, his energy staff in hand, watching the ground for any of the fallen henchmen to get up. Deadpool eyed me as I walked in, then turned back to the force field separating us from the prisoners. However, a loud crash broke the silence around us, and the fields dropped.

"_Blink, give me a portal for the prisoners._" A portal appeared in front of me almost as quickly as I had asked for it, and two of the prisoners made a break for it. They leapt through the portal, but one stayed behind.

"What is it?" Storm asked.

"They…they've been testing us," he stated. "My wife's here somewhere. I want you to find her!"

"Whoa, whoa. They're _testing_ mutants?" I asked in disbelief. What would Apocalypse do with information any doctor could have gotten?

"Yes. They want Harmonic DNA."

"What the hell is that?" I shot back and the man shrugged impatiently.

"I don't know, but Apocalypse wants it. Now please, save my wife!"

"We will," Storm stated calmly. "Now go." The man hesitated, but stepped through the portal, leaving us alone with Logan's group.

"You guys heard of Harmonic DNA?" I asked. Each of the men shook their heads, and I looked to Storm.

"I don't know. Catherine, I want you to check the lab through that door. I'll be freeing the other prisoners before they can be tested on."

"But I don't know any science stuff!" I whined. "How will I understand what I find?"

"Try to find a recording device. All scientists record their research for later playback. When you find it, bring it to the Professor."

I muttered a curse under my breath, but did as she told me to and walked over to the door. I slammed the button and walked in, muttering under my breath at the bad luck. Science was my least favorite subject and I hated it with a passion. But now, I would have to try to understand to save Genosha, and I couldn't worm myself out of this one. Delightful.

I looked around the small laboratory, noting the wicked looking instruments and a chair designed to strap someone in. I shuddered, thinking of what had to have gone on here, and finally walked over to the desk. It was covered in stacks of paper, and I noted that whoever this scientist was, he was definitely a neat freak. The pages were neatly typed and labeled and each of the stacks was in the right number order. Last I heard of scientists, they were inherently scatterbrained and messy, but borderline genius. Maybe it was just a stereotype.

Finally, something caught my eye and I dipped under the desk to find a small cube with a button on the top of it. Of course, being the curious woman I was, I pressed it regardless of what it could do, and was mildly disappointed to find it only was a recording device. The first part I didn't understand; it was something about DNA, but it was definitely beyond my meager expertise. However, I did know that he was searching for harmonic DNA, so when he spoke those words, I knew this device was important, and few minutes later, it ended with two sentences I definitely understood.

"Apocalypse is becoming quite adamant that I find at least one successful test subject soon. But given the current lack of success, I don't hold much hope. Which is a pity, since Apocalypse doesn't take kindly to bad news?"

So this DNA they were searching for they didn't seem to find yet. However, I didn't know the time this was taken, so they might have found it, but there was just no way to rightly know. I pocketed the device and peeked into a manila folder. As I flipped through the various pictures, I saw they were stamped with 'failure', and knew this must be the ones they had tested on already. But in the sea of red, my eyes saw a swatch of green, and I immediately stopped and began to flip back.

A green haired mutant stared back at me, her eyes glaring her defiance, but a green 'match' was plastered over her picture. I scanned the rest of the page and my eyes widened. Not only was she a match, but she was Magneto's daughter. They'd captured Magneto's daughter.

"_Professor!"_

"_**What is it, Catherine?**__"_

"_Polaris is a match for the harmonic DNA. They've taken her!"_

"_**Slow down. What is harmonic DNA?**__"_

"_Apocalypse is testing for it. We don't know what it is or why he wants it, but apparently Polaris has it. And he's taken her!"_

"_**Where?**__" _

"_It doesn't say in here. It just says she's a match and gives a full biography of her powers and lineage."_

"_**Understood. Gather what information you can and come back to the Sanctuary.**__" _

With that, I broke the connection, and quickly gathered the papers on the desk into one big pile. I quickly scanned the rest of the drawers, and the Blink portal appeared a few seconds later. I ignored it and shifted through the various materials, but it was to no avail. Whoever had done this work was long gone and taken the things that would tell me where Polaris was.

I grabbed the papers and checked the device in my pocket before walking through the portal. I was quickly cornered by Magneto, and I mutely handed him Polaris's sheet from the manila envelope. He snatched it and began scanning the contents, and I walked over to the professor and laid the papers in his lap.

"That's what I got, and this is the recording I found. I don't understand any of it."

"It's all right, Catherine. Genetics takes years of study to comprehend and even more to study. I wouldn't expect you to know any of what is on this tape."

Behind me, a flurry of people exited the portal, and I realized Storm and Logan's group must have freed the other prisoners.

"Catherine, show the prisoners where to find food and water. I'll call you when we need you to go back inside. I nodded once, glad to not have the Professor asking about my welfare, and did as he bade. I could wait and watch until I was needed to go back, but until then, I could shift through one of their memories and learn what had happened.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

A few gunshots rang out and Logan irritably looked over to Deadpool, who'd whipped out his guns and shot the lock off of a door.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled. Not only was everyone going to hear those shots, but he just didn't like the guy.

"If I were a henchman, I'd hide in there." Logan began to glare, but Storm stepped between the two men.

"Let's check, regardless. What's done is done." Storm eyed both men before opening the door, and immediately, everyone rushed inside. It was their lifetime enemy, Mr. Sinister, which surprised no one. He was a manipulative, self servicing, son of a bitch, and where there was power to be gained, he was there to grab it.

"Greetings 'old friends'. I must say this is indeed a surprise. I would have thought the pairing of the brotherhood and the X-men teams would have been a complete disaster." Every mutant except for Mr. Sinister was ready to fight, each in their defensive stance. But Mr. Sinister didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to relish the power he had over them.

"What are you doing here?" Storm demanded to know.

"Gathering up my lab notes before I bid this godforsaken island goodbye. But it seems that one of my lab notes has gone missing. You wouldn't know of this, would you?" Logan thought quickly of Catherine, but no one responded.

"You were experimenting on the mutants here in Genosha?" Storm questioned again. Logan was just annoyed by this point; he wanted to attack Sinister and be done with it, but Storm always voted for diplomacy.

"Yes, unfortunately, it's nothing too radical. Just looking for a few mutants with very special characteristics – something Polaris fit quite nicely."

"Polaris? What have you done with her? She's here?"

"No, she's much too valuable – she's quite well hidden, very far from here. And what of the dear Catherine? How is she holding up under the strain of Apocalypse?" Time seemed to slow for Logan as he digested what was being said.

"What are you doing to her?" Storm asked again, the outer rims of her eyes turning white. "Why are you attacking her?"

"Why if you don't know, there's no point in explanations is there?" Sinister taunted. "She'll awaken soon enough and you'll all know her dirty little secret. Until then, you'll just have to wait…and watch her suffer. A delightful thing to be sure, but she won't live for much longer."

"What the hell do you mean?" Logan snarled, anger and fear both flaring at the mention of her death.

"Oh, she can't be allowed to stand in our way," Sinister said, feeding him the smallest tidbits of information, relishing the reactions from the X-men. "So we'll kill her. Slowly, I might add. But as much as I love to stay and chat, I really must bid you Adieu."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Logan snarled, pointing a clawed hand toward the mad scientist.

"Oh, but I am. And you're going to let me. You see, I've set off a trap that will kill every prisoner in this whole wing. But you only have a small time to save them." Sinister calmly walked to a teleporter, then waved his finger back and forth in the air. "Tick, tock. Tick, tock." He vanished into thin light and Logan resisted the urge to follow him and demand to know what he wanted with Catherine.

"Logan, the prisoners!" Storm edged him backward and he let her, but he would find out what they were doing to Catherine, and he would make them pay.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

I came out from the memory, my mind a whirl of thoughts. What did they want with me? I wasn't anything special like they said I was. I had no odd powers, no distinguishing fighting style, so why would I even hinder one of the most powerful mutants of all time?

"Catherine." I looked up to see the Professor coming over to me, and I stood and watched him. "I know you saw what took place below." I nodded, not bothering to hide it. "I want you to tell me anything weird you've felt since we've began this search for Apocalypse. No matter how little the detail, no matter how inconsequential, I want you to tell me."

I knew this wasn't the time to dance around the subject, nor was it time for me to try to protect any personal things from him, so I nodded.

"When I was attacked by the five psychics, do you remember when Magneto asked what I dreamed of?" Xavier nodded. "I lied. I dreamed of people calling a name. At first, I couldn't talk, but then strangely I could. But voices just kept chanting the name Amanra over and over again. Then, the ground fell from beneath me, and I fell…then just woke up."

"Amanra?" Xavier mused aloud, stroking his chin as he thought. "I don't recall that name, but it seems familiar to me. Any other incidents like this one?"

"No…just the dream."

"I see. This was what Sinister meant by your awakening. Whoever this person is, we must find out how it relates to you. We'll be leaving for the X-mansion once Abyss is killed."

"Who's that?"

"One of the four horsemen of Apocalypse." At my blank look, he explained farther. "He had four horsemen who oversee his empire while he's away. A general, if you will."

"Oh…" I stated. "And they're fighting him?"

"Yes. But for now, I want you to sit and let me read your memory of the dream." I nodded, accepting the edict even as I feared for Logan, but I decided to trust that he would come back safely. Xavier placed two hands on each of my temple, and I lowered my barriers as I pulled the memory to the forefront. As I relived the dream once again, Xavier kept a calming presence, and it kept me from freaking out like I had the first time around. Once it was finished, he pulled away, his face pensive.

"What is it, Professor?"

"I don't like the dream," he admitted. "This Amanra could be a mutant from Apocalypse's time, or it could be a mutant now. Perhaps this Amanra is calling to you to find her."

"What should I do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "For now, we will go back to the X-mansion and gather intelligence. We need to find Polaris and we must find this Amanra. This comes before going after Apocalypse." I nodded, accepting the edict, and remained in my seat as the Professor went to speak to Magneto. I saw the two converse, then Magneto met my gaze, his eyes triumphant and calculating. I looked away first, toward the X-jet, and waited for Logan to come back to me. I just wanted to hold him and be held just for a moment, since it looked like I was as deep in this as Polaris was.

And a good ten minutes later, my wish was granted. Logan, Deadpool, Colossus, Gambit, and Storm finally emerged from the portal, each sporting various cuts, scrapes, and bruises, along with the blood on their uniforms. They were quickly brought the health potions Beast had created and before our eyes, their wounds began to heal. As soon as the Professor spoke with them, he turned toward the X-Jet, and motioned for all of us to follow.

"We've saved Genosha, but we must go back to the X-mansion. Polaris is our main objective for the moment, and we must find her." I was surprised they didn't mention me, but perhaps they wanted to keep my dreams a secret for the time being. However, I didn't mind, since it would bring undue attention to myself.

Mutants around me began to carry the cargo back into the jet, and a few mintues later, we were ready to go. Every mutant was fastened in, and as Magneto passed me, he glanced my way, his gaze saying without words '_I know your little secret_.' I didn't rise to the bait; I merely looked away, but was glad to see Logan enter the X-Jet. I smiled at him and was surprised when he gave up his seat in the front to take the empty seat next to me.

"Are you feeling all right?" I asked, referring to his earlier injuries. He brushed off the concern quickly in his Logan-like manner, which of course, made me smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His voice was gruff, but if I knew him, he would be worried…like I was. I was terrified of this Amanra character, and even more so knowing Apocalypse was behind the psychic attacks that had been driving me crazy.

"I love you," I whispered softly, laying my head on his shoulder. He grunted, but placed a hand on my knee and allowed me to lie against him. It was enough and I knew what he really felt. I didn't need declarations in front of anyone, nor would he give them unless he had to.

Up front, however, it was another story. I heard Xavier contact Beast, who had stayed behind to research Apocalypse and try to find his base, to tell him the good news.

"We're coming home, Beast, as fast as we can."

"Honestly, Charles," Beast began, his voice amused, "I don't mind if everyone is helping out with relief in Genosha. An empty mansion means I can concentrate on finding Apocalypse's base."

"Understood. Have a pleasant evening, Beast."

"And you as well, Charles," he said before cutting the connection. But something wasn't right. I felt something, and since I knew the path to Beast's mind, I traced the connection and nearly jumped out of my seat.

"Professor!" I cried out, seeing exactly what Beast was. Apocalypse stood behind him, and as Beast launched himself into battle, he knew he was destined to lose. So when he was thrown through the window, I felt him reach out to me, feeling me in his mind.

The Savage Land.

Just three simple words, but then darkness claimed him, sending me back into my own mind.

"Professor," Jean said softly, her voice full with sympathy. We all knew Beast and Professor were very close, and losing him would be hard on the Professor.

"I know you saw what happened," the Professor stated, his voice filled with sorrow. "But Beast has been captured…by Apocalypse. Finding him will be our new objective as well as any information on Apocalypse's base of operations."

But for now, all we could do was wait as we went home, each of us silent as we mourned the loss of our friend.


	9. Breakthrough

Okay. I have NOT read the X-men comics. This is where it'll be slightly AU and slightly not. So to the hardcore people, this is just my interpretation of what I've been told and what I imagined. I'll keep it as close to the original as I can, but that is not much of a guarantee.

*8*8*8*8*8*

The ride back to the X-mansion was the quietest I've ever had. No one spoke; no one wanted to break the reverent silence. However, I could feel the tension vibrating in the X-men around us. The Brotherhood had no such tension but I felt no waves of happiness from them either. At least they weren't trying to make light of Beast's abduction.

After what seemed like hours – I honestly wasn't sure how much time had passed – the X-jet finally landed, giving us the first view of our destroyed home. I could feel tears building in the back of my eyes and I quietly stood, not only mourning for Beast, but also for the destruction of the only safe haven I had ever known.

"Get your gear together, X-men. This will be our home base for now until we can locate Beast, Polaris, or Apocalypse." Xavier's voice quietly broke the silence and we all nodded, each getting up and leaving the jet as the doors opened. Even the brotherhood filed out, each standing uneasily. I could understand. This was technically enemy territory for them. They didn't know where anything was and they could be killed when one of us tried something. But none of the X-men were in the mood to be accommodating.

I left the main group and began to walk the grounds. Trees and flowers burnt to cinders around me, the beautiful gardens I took solace in destroyed. Holes in the ground from the weapons Apocalypse had fired on our home. It was horror and devastation and it quite honestly shook me to my very core. I knew death and was no stranger to near death experiences, but somehow this was worse than having an attack rocketing toward my face. This wasn't a fight. It was a personal statement.

As I continued walking, I ironically ended up near my teacher's grave. And karma had indeed sent me a message. Her tombstone was broken in half and the grave itself was a huge hole in the ground from a bomb. But this was the truth. My old master had indeed risen from the grave.

I walked away as suddenly as I had stumbled upon her resting place, walking inside of the mansion for the first time. I came upon other mutants, some of who were speaking softly to one another. I could feel the underlying shock, the innate sadness, and it only amplified my own. Instead of stopping and speaking, I continued on toward my room on the second floor. Using my powers, I flew across the holes in the floor and managed to come to my door. Hesitantly, I opened it.

The wallpaper had been burned and everything in the room destroyed. Where Logan and I shared our bed was completely destroyed; only a hole remained. Beneath me the ground quivered and I quickly used my powers to fly before the floor collapsed beneath my feet. So many memories gone within an instant. I could remember when I slept with Logan here for the first time, the bonding that was created, and the intimacy we had shared. I could remember teasing him late at night and his grumpy reply to 'get the hell to sleep'. I remembered when he first stumbled upon me, crying and afraid from my parent's visit. I remembered the love that we shared in this room…the private sanctuary we had created.

And it was destroyed. All by one mutant.

I could feel rage battling against my sorrow and I wanted Logan. Logan would hold me and all would be well. He always knew when I needed to be held and when I needed to hear comforting words…even if they were a bit gruff at times.

"Thought I would find you here." I looked beneath me to see Logan standing on the rubble beneath me, his hands in his pockets and his stance rigid. Even though he tried to hide it, I could feel his anger, his need to strike out at something, and I knew that I wasn't the only one affected. This made me smile softly as nothing else could have.

"Oh, Logan." I let myself fall to the ground and he caught me easily, as I knew he would. He embraced me tightly and even though it was slightly painful, I needed it as much as he did. This had been our home. Our place.

"We will take him down, Cat."

"I'm sure you will," I stated softly and tilted my head up for a kiss. He met me halfway and we sat there for long minutes, finding comfort within one another's intimate embrace, letting our love for the other shine through. It was these rare moments that I cherished and remembered most because it was the epitome of our love for one another.

Finally he pulled away but kept me in his embrace. "Cat, my home is with you." With that he gave me a chaste kiss to my forehead and left me in the room, smiling. It was like him to say a sentimental statement and leave out of embarrassment, but he knew when I needed the words.

"_Catherine?"_

"_**Professor?"**_I replied, shocked that I would hear from him so soon.

"_I would like you to come and meet me in my old office. We need to speak of this woman you dream of."_

"_**Will Magneto be there?**__"_

"_Yes." _ I sighed; I truly didn't want to go while Magneto was there. He easily burrowed under my skin and got on my nerves. Something about me just refused to trust him, even if the Professor did. _"I understand you have an aversion to him. But he might catch something I cannot."_

"_**I understand. I'm on my way Professor.**__"_ I could almost feel the nod as the Professor broke the connection and I sighed as I stood, forcing myself to walk towards the Professor's office. With every step my trepidation built because I knew what this meeting was about. I didn't want this attention and I didn't want this Amanra.

I sighed as I reached the doorway leading to the Professor and though I wanted nothing more than to run, I opened the door instead. Overall, this room was mostly untouched, though bits and pieces had burned through from other rooms. The Professor was at his desk while Magneto was standing at his side, and both were watching me with uncomfortable stares.

"Catherine," the Professor greeted calmly, sensing my distress. "I have told Eric what you dreamed of." I refused to look in his direction, but I felt the curious gloating he didn't bother to hide. He had known something had happened. "And what Mr. Sinister has spoken of about you."

"My awakening," I stated quietly.

"Yes. If Mr. Sinister doesn't want you to awaken, there might be some power in this Amanra. We leave this decision to you of course, but we wish to put you in a trance to see if you can find out any information regarding this woman." If I knew Magneto, he had argued to put me into a trance immediately. And if I knew the Professor, he had told him that it was my decision, and I was actually surprised that the Professor had won this argument.

"What will happen in the trance?" I asked.

"This is quite the unknown territory for me, Catherine. I have no answers for you that would even have any sort of logic behind them. I don't even know if this will work for certain. But I will be monitoring you as you are in the trance, and I can bring you out if something goes wrong."

I sank into the chair beside of me, nervously chewing on my lip. It wasn't as if this problem was going away. If what Mr. Sinister said was true, then the attacks would keep appearing so that Amanra wouldn't awaken. And if I did this now, I would have the help of a powerful psychic. However…there was one thing I wanted, as strangely as it seemed.

"Could Jean be here too?" Something in my needed my teacher by my side. To tell you the truth, I was terrified to go into this trance. What if I was trapped within myself as this Amanra took over? I didn't want to give up my Logan. I didn't want to give up my life.

"I thought you might say that. Jean?" The doors opened behind me and I felt a wave of calm wash over my mind. I felt the subtle flow from my old teacher and let myself be relaxed under her care. In a way…perhaps it was because I viewed her as a teacher, and slightly as my mother. She was the closest thing I had to one after all. "We will do this as quickly as possible. If you can, send out a psychic wave if you get into trouble."

"Okay," I nodded, grabbing for Jean's hand. She gripped it and squeezed tightly as the Professor nodded.

"Be safe, Catherine." With that, I fell forward and blanked out before I could be caught.

*8*8*8*8*8*

As I opened my eyes, I knew that I was no longer in the office with my friends. Whatever had been done had apparently worked, because around me the name was chanting again and again. I stood, noting that it was the same never ending desert as I had inhabited before.

"Who is Amanra?" I called out, surprised that I could speak this time. Around me the name was spoken like a river, rippling in a circle around me. Now I was interacting with the voice. "Who…am I?" The river of the name flowed around me once more. "I am Amanra?" The voices were quiet and I hesitated. Why didn't they answer? "Am I Amanra?" I called out again. "I need to know, otherwise I will be killed!" I cried out in frustration.

"You will not." The voice that had answered me wasn't like the others. Unlike the whispering of the others, this one was clear, strong, and radiated pure authority and strength. It was female, assuredly, but the accent I couldn't begin to place.

"Are you Amanra?" I asked, looking for the origin of the voice.

"Yes. You have finally come seeking me, giving me the strength to speak to you." My face scrunched in confusion.

"So because I want to talk to you, you're suddenly here?" What kind of voice was this?

"You are confused but this is normal. To explain this contradiction, I must tell you a story."

"Can you show yourself?" I asked, looking around desperately for the woman who was speaking. Unfortunately, all I saw was the endless desert.

"I do not have yet the strength. I am waking, child, and I cannot do so instantly. Will you let me explain?"

"If you must," I sighed, just plopping down on the sand. I was frustrated that I would not get my answers immediately, but at least I wasn't in any danger so far.

"My name is Amanra and I served the Queen Nephri thousands of years ago. I was present at the appearance of En Sabah Nur and saw his rise to power."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Who are you speaking of?" I questioned. The name was a freaking mouthful! How was I supposed to report it back if I couldn't speak it?

"I speak of Apocalypse." Easier to say and remember by leaps and bounds.

"So Apocalypse is thousands of years old. Good god."

"He lives through great power and does not age."

"Okay, okay," I stated, stopping that train of thought. "As much as I would love for your information on Apocalypse, I need to learn about you."

The voice was quiet, then spoke again. "I see. As I said, I saw En Sabah Nur when he first challenged pharaoh Rama Tut. He was trying to attack Nephri and I had to stop him. I had enough power to cease his attack and to weaken him for the armies to attack him, so he fled. But it was for nothing. The Pharaoh was a man who could travel time itself. When En Sabah Nur became such an irritation, he left once again to travel time, leaving Nephri as Queen of Egypt. When En Sabah Nur came to her bedside, it was I who once again held him off, leaving him and I weak to the point where he could do nothing. But he used something to kill me that day, something not of this world."

"So you died protecting your queen…" I mused.

"Yes. But as I died and came to my gods, Isis granted me another chance at life. I was reborn within a mortal; to wait for the time Apocalypse comes to try to challenge the world once more."

"Okay. So your gods put you within a mortal."

"Yes."

"Who in turn had mortal babies, which I assume you jumped to?"

"Yes."

"And through that you've been inherited to me."

"Yes."

"I don't know how to feel about this," I stated, running a hand through my hair. "So the dream I had, was that you trying to contact me?"

"It was all the power I had at the time," the voice clarified. "All I could do was protect you from the assault. Apocalypse knows where I rest and he will not stop until I am dead. I was the only one who could challenge him in my time, and waiting has given me as much power as he has gained."

"You could take him down?" I asked, perking up.

"No." I let my head drop once more at her answer. "But I can weaken and wound him until your X-men can finish the job." I lifted my head once more as I felt the hope rising.

"So right now you're coming back into power?"

"I have integrated with many mortals and my powers have stretched to their breaking point. I am gathering my strength so that I may fight, but it will take time until I am fully awakened. I am glad that you have met Apocalypse. With another human, they might not have known of him and I might not have emerged until time had run out."

"When you come into power," I began cautiously, "Will you take over the mortal body? Will I be myself?"

"Yes and no," she replied. "When I emerge into power, it will feel as if there are two people sharing your body. However, only when I use full powers will I need to take over your body. And even then only for a short time. As I regain my powers, I will regain the power to conjure a human body for myself. Until that day I cannot leave."

"So I'm more or less your host for now."

"Yes. The stronger you become, the faster I will leave this body."

"Good enough I guess. Will I be able to speak to you? The only way I got here was to get knocked out."

"I assure you, you will not have to take such drastic measures in the future. Soon I will gain enough power to speak to your mind, awake or asleep." Comforting to know I would have real voices in my head. "Is there anything else you wish to know about me?" she asked almost kindly. "You are taking this very well, and I would have you know everything that you can. Comfort comes from knowledge."

"I guess," I agreed tentatively. "But as a mutant, what powers did you possess?"

"I was the most powerful psychic of my generation. In fact, your mutant powers were a manifestation of my own." My eyes widened at the news.

"You mean I wasn't born a mutant?" I asked.

"Yes and no," Amanra answered. "You had the capability for the mutant gene, but you were not born with it. But somehow as a child you came to me in fear. Of course, I couldn't protect you as I could now, so I granted you some of my powers to keep you safe." I was shocked to say the least…I thought I had been born with powers.

"So I came to you?" I asked, the numbness keeping me from fully accepting the truth.

"Yes. You were in terrible pain and frightened to death. I gave you what little powers I had left and with them, you protected yourself. The fraction I gave to you then you have multiplied by thousands." I didn't remember what time she spoke of yet somehow I felt as if she was telling the truth.

"So if you leave me, will the powers be gone?"

"No. You keep what I have given you. Plus you will gain at least half of my power when I leave your body." My mind couldn't take much more surprises. Already I could feel the headache from trying to take too much in and felt a dribble down my nose. As I touched my lip, my fingers came away with blood. "You cannot hold this connection forever," Amanra stated.

"Before you go, could you explain the half power? I can hold out for that long." I hoped I could hold out that long.

"A soul is attached to one body. However, there are two attached to the body you are in now. For me to leave requires a great deal of power to leave the host body and to protect it."

"Protect?" I felt the nosebleed worsen and knew I didn't have much time left.

"I'm forcibly removing the soul from the body. If I did it without any caring for your soul, your body or soul could be damaged. To keep away from this, I must leave some of my power as a substitute for my soul. I'm sorry. I cannot explain it more than that, and you must break this connection. Be strong, Catherine. You must be strong and stay true to your heart, for true power comes from within. We will speak again."

With that said I could almost _feel_ the voice leave me and I stood. Beneath me sand began to shift and I sighed, knowing exactly where this was headed.

"I hate falling," I muttered right before I was swallowed again by the sand, plunging into total darkness. And I will admit, I screamed the entire way down.

*8*8*8

As I woke, I could taste blood and felt an excruciating headache, causing me to groan as I let my head fall forward. And of course, my teacher was there to catch me.

"Catherine, are you all right?" I heard Jean say as she began to wipe the blood away with a napkin she somehow had produced.

"Yeah," I muttered, closing my eyes as my head pounded.

"And what did you see?" Magneto asked, his voice still full of curious arrogance. As if he knew my secret and was just playing along…and I hated it.

"Ugh," was all I could answer. "Later."

"I see," The Professor stated. "Jean, call for Storm. Bring her to the infirmary immediately. Use what is left and call on me when she's stable."

"Of course Professor." I was lifted from the chair with Jean's power and taken down the hall, floating an inch above her arms. I could hear the shuffling and gasps of mutants around me as I passed, but I was too tired to care how I looked. Finally Jean dove into a room and placed me on a table.

"Storm will be here in just a moment. Until then, I'm going to give you Beast's potion. I don't know how much it will help, but it has to do something." I couldn't even nod; however Jean knew to just go ahead and give me the potion. She lifted my back with her powers and fed me the potion. I drank as best as I could and felt the nosebleed stop at least. However the headache only dimmed instead of going away, which meant I had used up too much of my power.

"Jean." Now better, I looked toward the door to see Storm rushing in, and behind her Logan. Both of them darted toward me, but Storm was there first, scanning me for visible injuries.

"I'm better now," I stated, meaning it. "My head still aches like the devil, but the nosebleed has stopped." While I spoke Logan took me into his arms and I gratefully leaned into his chest.

"What the hell were you doing?" he asked, but Storm cut him off with a quick cut of her hand.

"One minute before you question her. What potion did you give her, Jean?" she asked my teacher.

"The red one," Jean answered, showing Storm the empty bottle.

"Give her this," Storm replied. "This is the second potion Beast created. This is to restore energy." If it worked I would take it eagerly. Storm lifted it to my lips and I drank, surprised that it tasted of blueberries. Whatever taste I was braced for, it wasn't blueberries. Fortunately for me though, the headache from psychic overuse disappeared like nothing had ever happened.

"So much better," I stated with a sigh.

"Good," Jean stated. "Now as much as I hate to question you right after you got better, I need to hear what you saw. I'll be connected with the Professor and Magneto, so they will both hear you." Blech. Magneto.

As quickly as I could, I explained the situation I had found myself in. How Amanra had stopped Apocalypse and where she came from. Then the situation about her stuck in my own body. However, I left the part about me not being born a mutant out. That would be for the Professor's ears only. Not that stupid Magneto.

When I was finished, every mutant in the room was watching me strangely. I eyed each one of them, not knowing what the looks were for.

"All this time she's slept within you," Storm stated. "I never have seen anything to suspect it."

"I have never felt anything," Jean agreed. "And I'm familiar with her mind."

"She would have continued to sleep if I hadn't have been in contact with Apocalypse. She would have just rested and waited forever or until it was too late." I scooted upwards until my head rested under Logan's jaw and he allowed the action. I could feel the fear for my health and the worry, and I hated not being able to tell him before I had gone under. He held my arms lightly, needing the contact with me to assure himself.

"Will she take over?" Jean asked. I shook my head.

"No. Only in life or death situations, but when she has enough power she'll leave my body and create her own."

"Impossible!" Storm stated. "Not even the Professor could procure a body out of thin air." I held up my hands in surrender.

"That's just what she said. I'm not sure what she or I am capable of yet, and I don't know if I truly ever will. I'm just going on what I was told and I could sense that she meant me no harm. That's all I can tell you for certain." Storm sighed and looked at the monitors across the room.

"When you contact her again, I want you to come to me," Storm demanded in her typical fashion. When it came to healing or injuries, she was always so adamant. "No matter if it's harmless or not. I need you to keep me informed of everything you experience."

"I will. Is there anything else that you need? Because I'd rather sleep this off." Sure, the headache was gone, and sure, the pain was gone, but I felt physically exhausted. I had enough mental energy to spare but I felt as if I couldn't even get up from the bed, much less try to fight or do anything. Beast's potion could only cure so much.

"All right," Storm agreed. "Logan, could you take her to your new quarters? Jean? We'll go back to the professor."

"Thanks for being there for me, Jean," I stated before she left. We might have had a rocky relationship and we might have not had the closest, but I was still grateful for her being there to support me.

"You're welcome," she softly said with a smile. Both her and Storm left the room, leaving me alone with Logan. He had left his hands on my arms for the entire duration which meant he was still worried.

"I'm sorry, Logan. I would have told you, but the Professor wanted me immediately."

"I know," he gruffly muttered.

"Can we go to our room? There's something more that I need to tell you." I looked up just in time for his eyebrow to quirk, masking what worry shone in his eyes. "I didn't want to tell the others just yet."

"All right." With a deft movement he held me bridal style and began to walk out of the room.

"You know I can walk, but it's nice being carried for a change." I laid my head against him and kissed his neck.

"Don't get used to it." There was my Logan. "It isn't the best room," he began a moment later as he opened the door, "But it's still intact. The Professor will start the rebuilding tomorrow when we're all rested."

"All right," I agreed, knowing I would probably help. We would need supplies, but psychics like Jean and myself would undoubtedly be called to help build. What better training than rebuilding the mansion?

Logan laid me down on the bed and went to stand, but I caught him by the elbow. He stopped immediately but didn't move. "What?"

"I want you close to me for this. It's a hard confession for me." With him, I could admit to things I would have never been able to otherwise. And I could trust him, I thought, because the man said nothing but slipped into bed beside of me, holding out an arm for me to lie on. As he lay on his back I placed my head on his shoulder and threw an arm and leg over him, holding him as I readied myself.

"Just go ahead and tell me," he commanded. "Seems to be hurting you worse keeping it from me."

"I wasn't born a mutant," I blurted, and held Logan tightly. I didn't know what to expect from him, nor did I know what to expect from myself at this point. This was something even I hadn't come to terms yet so how could he digest it? However, he didn't move, didn't twitch, nor did I feel any fluctuations in emotions coming from him. A cool man, he was. "Apparently Amanra gifted me with powers when something traumatic happened in my past. I don't remember what she was speaking of, but I know she wasn't lying." The silence stretched between us and I clenched Logan's shirt. What was he thinking? I wouldn't pry into his thoughts; it was an invasion of privacy that I swore to never abuse.

"So?"

"I don't know," I replied, easing at his simple answer.

"Did you think I wouldn't stay with you?" he asked, merely looking at the ceiling.

"I don't know what I think. I'm so confused over all of this and to have this dumped on me…it's almost too much. I didn't think that you would leave me, but I don't know how you would have taken it. I don't even know how you _are_ taking it." He sighed the way he always did when he was resorted to talking about his feelings. It was such a frustrating, manly sigh that it brought a small smile to my face.

"I don't care if you were born a mutant. I don't care if you're human. You are still mine and I'm not going to give you up for something as stupid as this."

"You'd stay with me even if I lost my powers?"

"Of course," he muttered. My hand finally relaxed and I splayed my fingers over the muscles on his chest, allowing myself to truly relax since I had learned of this Amanra.

"I don't know what it is about you, but you're the only person able to relax me since this whole thing started," I told him. He may never admit it, but he enjoyed my compliments. "Being here with you, just the two of us, is all that I needed. Even if the mansion was destroyed all over again, I would be happy as long as I was with you." I felt him shift which meant he was uncomfortable, so I strayed from that topic. "But thank you for taking care of me today."

He grunted, the Logan reply of 'I have nothing better to say' so I grinned. He was adorable to me and I loved him for it.

"Remember the first time we met?" I began, just wanting to talk and be close to Logan. Oh, he would never idly chat with me, but he always listened. "I wanted to jump you." His face whipped to mine and I had to laugh, loving the surprised expression on his face. "It's true." I kissed his nose and grinned at him. "You look pretty good in leather."

"What about it?" he asked. "I wear leather all the time."

"Silly. I was just remembering you. Who would have thought you would have noticed a sarcastic piece of work like me? You're a hard one to get if it took getting shot to get your attention."

"I noticed you before," he retorted. "Doesn't take a wounded woman to get my attention."

"Okay, I'll bite. When did you first notice me?"

He quickly rolled over to where he was lying on top of me, his face inches from mine and his hair tickling my cheeks. "I'm not the only one that looks good in leather." With that, he dipped down for a forceful kiss, to which I immediately responded. Logan compliments were just such damn good compliments.

The kiss turned heated rapidly, and I drew him closer to where his body completely covered mine. He allowed me to and even put a hand behind my head to intensify the kiss. I could feel him drawing closer to me mentally and I allowed my shields to drop, connecting our minds as one. It was the ultimate pleasure sharing experience, and one that I hadn't done since Jean had been killed so many months ago. It took the ultimate trust between one another, because there were no pretenses when we were linked psychically.

But I knew where this was leading and I wanted it badly. I missed the intensity with my boyfriend and I had missed being this close with him. The things that had happened in the last few weeks had tortured me so much that I _needed_ to do this. And he could feel my need, my ache, and the loneliness I had bore since Jean had come back to life. Most of all, he now felt my love for him and the renewal of our connection. As for him, I felt his fear of losing me…the one thing always foremost on his mind. His love and acceptance of me as a mutant or human. And buried deep, I found that he too had missed this romantic connection and was eager to draw me closer to him.

And with that, he pulled away and took off his shirt, barely taking time to throw it into the corner. I grinned as my interest peaked and he smirked as it only powered his own. He then leaned back down to finish what he had started.

*8*8*8*

I hadn't intended to write this, but it kind of came out bit by bit. I hope it's still good because X-men hasn't been the freshest on my mind – since the last comic movie I did see was Captain America. He just reminded me of Xena. Hey look! I can throw a shield/chakram and it'll come back!

Hm. I seem to have been distracted. Easily noted because I'm sick and I never know how powerful NyQuil can be. I thought people were kidding! But nope! Seeing unicorns and rainbows all over the house, while slaying demons in my very odd dreams with Dante from Devil May Cry.

Gah! Distracted!

Honestly, I hope to continue this story if there's still some sort of interest in it, because this has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while. But anyways! I know the chapter is short, but I Logan really doesn't strike me as the romance type and I didn't want to draw out much or write a scene that really wouldn't fit into K+.

But just leave me a few reviews or messages and I'll know whether to continue it or not ^^


	10. Our Wade

Days after we had arrived at the X-mansion, we had scavenged what little things had survived Apocalypse. Data had been transferred, medicine delivered, potions gathered, and what personal belongings could be found taken with us. The mood wasn't as somber as usual, but Beast weighed heavily on everyone's mind.

For me, I could now almost sense Amanra. It was like another presence in my mind, not intrusive, but not together all my own. She never spoke to me nor did I feel any attacks from the empath from before. I attributed that to Amanra and was grateful; I had my Logan back for now and it was enough that I was beginning to pull myself back together again. With the presence in my mind, I could feel power growing beneath my fingertips as she became more powerful. I wasn't sure if it was both of our powers amplifying one another or if it was hers. However, I felt more confident with this power, no matter whose it was.

And between these days, I'd regained some of my sarcastic nature, much to the delight of Wade, who bothered me incessantly. He claimed it was boredom, but I knew it amused him to make Logan just a tad bit jealous. I wasn't going to stop this behavior though; because when it happened, Logan always had to throw an arm over me and hold me close. And if I admitted it, it was amusing to me too.

The day we finally had gotten everything together, we were immediately herded into the X-Jet and shipped off to Antarctica – the new bane of my existence. I loved warm. I could thrive in warm. The cold I hated with a passion, because I _hated_ being cold. I wasn't looking forward to these missions and I would dodge what work I could do so I could be in the X-Jet as long as possible. This was a wasteland of _ice_ we were talking about. One of the coldest things _ever_.

My nightmare was made real when we began to land and I burrowed into my seat, preparing myself for the cold blast of air that would hit when the walkway lowered. However, as it did, there wasn't a rush of cold air. It was a rush of hot and quite humid air. I glared at Storm as she walked past me – she was the one who told me we were going to Antarctica, after all – and she just smiled back. Unrepentant woman.

"I never said it was cold," she stated slyly. She was still getting me back from pestering her with too many questions earlier and I probably deserved it. "You just assumed."

"You're a wicked woman." With a smile she vanished down the walkway and I unbuckled myself to walk down with Logan at my side. As we exited, my jaw dropped.

"There is no way we're in Antarctica." It was a jungle reminiscent of the Amazon, if not a bit thicker. The air was heavy and hot, though that didn't bother me particularly much. I could see the sun from here, but that would change once we got inside. The trees were pretty thick up top; it was enough to let the light in but not enough for anything other than vegetation to grow on the floor.

"We are," Professor Xavier answered me, a small smile on his face. "This place was built by aliens long ago. They use generators to activate a type of field that keeps the heat inside and enables this place to flourish."

"Wow," was all I could say back.

"Everyone, get your things and set up camp. We will start missions in a few hours." Some of us were a bit tired, but at least with the X-men, sleep could come later after finding Beast. "Catherine." I perked up instantly. "I want you and Scarlet Witch to begin to scout the perimeter." I smiled at the Professor, grateful. I'd rather be out doing stuff than diligently organizing. It was well known I would lose focus only a few minutes in to mundane tasking and the Professor knew I would be better suited for this.

"That's fine, Professor. How far do you want us to go?"

"As long as it takes for us to set up camp." My smile widened. He really did know me too well.

"All right." I turned to the side and there was probably my favorite brotherhood mutant.

"Let's go, Barrage." I nodded at her and fell into step behind her, glad to have her take the lead. As we threaded into the forest I was amazed at the wildlife that was scampering around us. How did all these animals get here? This place was surrounded by ice! I even saw a few rats and snakes around the plants and trees. "Barrage. I want to ask you a few questions, but none of this will get back to my father." I felt something from her, which got my attention quickly.

"Your father?" I asked quietly. I didn't know much about the brotherhood and I wasn't going to pretend I did.

"Magneto. I am only here to keep him from going past what he is allowed." The fact that she was his daughter threw me off and had my guard up, but something in her tone had me believing it would be between us. "You are the only one from the X-men who does not look at me as if I'm evil. I wish for us to be friends, at least." It was a simple request and even if the information was repeated back to her father, it wasn't like it was going to come out eventually. Plus I could sense the loneliness she was trying to hide; I would trust her at least this much.

"You can call me Kat." A regal nod from Scarlet Witch.

"My name is Wanda." I smiled at her and came around to walk at her side, both of us weaving through snarls of vines and protruding tree roots. "The Amanra you carry in you. Is she a god?"

"No. She was a powerful mutant back in Egypt, but she was resurrected by a god. They sensed that Apocalypse would return eventually."

"Can you speak with her gods?" She asked again. I didn't mind the amiable chatter; perhaps she would ask a question that I needed to know the answer to even if it was to simply understand the power inside me.

"Not at all. The only one I can speak with is her."

"I can sense you're growing stronger."

"I am." I easily jumped over a tree root to land in her range of vision. "I can feel it growing more and more each day."

"You seem more of yourself than when I first met you. As a woman, I'm glad. A woman shouldn't feel as if she's under someone's shadow. Even if you are a psychic like the Phoenix, you are different people."

"You sound as if you know." I replied back.

"I do." I could tell that was all she was going to say on the matter, but I felt her pain. I didn't question it further.

"He loved her first, you know." That got her attention. "She was the woman he loved and idolized even when Cyclops was alive." She knew who I was speaking of.

"I see," she mused. "I sensed an attraction between them…but do not forget, there is a bond between the two of you as well."

"He would be happier with her."

"Do not step aside so easily. Fight for him and make him happier with you." Ironically, I'd never thought of actually competing with Jean. She was blindingly beautiful with class five mutant powers, and intelligence that most women would kill for.

"She's everything I'm not." With a feminine smile, Wanda shook her head.

"And you are everything she isn't." The comment blew me away and I stopped, one foot on the ground and one on a tree root. "When I am around her I feel comfortable, like a mother and child. You…you give off the feeling of comraderie and fun. Sometimes she can smile and joke, but with you I feel open and happier. Two sides of the same coin."

"That just might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," I replied in awe. She was nothing like the brotherhood mutants had been portrayed.

"You needed to hear it," she said simply before moving on. "Be yourself like you are around your Wade. If he cannot like you at your best, what good is he?" Again I sensed pain behind her words and I knew that she'd been hurt by a man. It gave her words that much effect and I took them to heart.

"I think you need a friend just as much as I do." Her sharp look had me holding up my hands in surrender. "I'm not in your mind, but you give off pretty strong emotions. I try not to pick up on them but sometimes I can't help it." She accepted this and calmed.

"What do you sense about me?" she asked then, a curious smile on her beautiful face.

"Loneliness. You were hurt very badly somewhere down the line, and you're very honest with yourself and others. You haven't lied to me yet."

"True enough."

"Eventually you can tell me about it. I may not be able to help, but sometimes talking about the pain helps. That's why Wade and I are so close."

"Perhaps." I knew the conversation was done by this point and let it drop into a companionable silence. When I went scouting I didn't expect to find a friend, but somehow, it seemed that even the Professor had sensed Wanda's discontent. Accepting the turn of events, I merely followed her like a lost puppy, scanning around us for any sentient life.

*8*8*8*8*8*

I wasn't sure how long had passed before the Professor brushed against my mind. I touched Wanda's arm and we both stopped as I gave the Professor entrance.

"_Catherine, I need you and Scarlet Witch to search for Mystique. She's missing."_

"**Okay?"** I replied back, unsure of what would be gained by following a single brotherhood mutant. Couldn't she just find her own way back to camp?

"_If there is one mutant known for her ability to swap sides of a war, it is Mystique. You two are already near where she was last spotted and I need you to scan for her. Do not walk into a trap."_

"**I'm on it, Professor."** With that I turned toward Wanda and relayed the information. She had a look of distaste as I finished explaining.

"I don't know why my father allows her into the brotherhood; you can't trust her even in the best of times." She sighed. "But let's go search for her anyways. When we get there, Kat, I want you to sense her. But do not get caught."

"I'll try," I promised. If the Professor was even worried what she was up to, it would be enough to prompt me to search through her emotions and any strong memories. I wasn't going to let her betray us all and put anyone I cared about in danger. "I can sense her now, but I'll have to go deep into myself to do it."

"You don't know where she is." With a smirk worthy of Logan I shook my head.

"I don't have to. I know her mental signature." I flung out my conscious in all directions, quickly picking up Mystique only a mile away. "I've found her easily enough. She's down that way." I closed my eyes and concentrated, oozing my power into her conscious slowly, but not enough to alarm her innate sixth sense. "I don't even have to try to sense. She's crazy worried about something. A person. She keeps looking for this person because they matter to her."

"Someone actually matters to her?"

I shrugged. "I'm just saying what she's feeling. She's close friends with this mutant and I keep seeing her face flash in Mystique's mind. I don't think that she's doing anything wrong this time around. She just wants to find whoever it is."

"If that's the case, contact your Professor and let's find her."

"**Professor."** He quickly touched minds with me.**"She's searching for someone. This person."** I showed the picture of a redhead with curious but slim red glasses, petite frame, and tall build. **"Do you know her?"**

"_Yes." _He replied after a moment. _"Her name is Destiny and she has powers of precognition."_

"**So she can tell the future?"**

"_Quite right. You are to help her locate Destiny at all costs._

"**Understood."**

"We have the all clear," I told Wanda. "We need to help find Destiny." At her curious look I quickly added, "That's her name. I'm not being that corny." She smiled at me before gesturing.

"Now you lead, Kat."

It was slow going but easy enough for us to make our way through the jungle. We found various animal paths that led us closer and were easier to traverse, but neither of us spoke. It was as if the jungle became heavy and I could sense we had entered enemy territory. I couldn't sense any humans around, but that didn't mean they weren't shielded.

After a while of slow trekking, we finally stumbled on Mystique, who looked less than pleased to even be in the same vicinity of me. I hadn't exactly spoken with her at all, but the contempt on her face was less than thrilling. This is probably how Wanda felt when she was with the X-men.

"Mystique," Wanda began, knowing the hatred Mystique had for anything remotely linked to the X-men, "What are you doing here in the jungle by yourself?"

"Looking for my friend Destiny," she replied, ignoring me. Well that was just fine with me because I didn't feel like tangling with her. She seemed particularly vicious. "She came to the savage land because she sensed Apocalypse was going to start a world war. She hoped this land would be spared."

"She can see the future?" Wanda prodded further. She of course already knew because I'd told her, but I wasn't going to even step into the conversation.

"Yes. Now if we're done playing twenty questions I'd like to continue my search for her." I quirked an eyebrow at her and she just sent me a fulminating glare before disappearing into the jungle around us.

"Amiable girl," I quipped and even Wanda had a grin.

"She was quite talkative; it was impressive." I just shook my head at that. "Can you find Destiny the same way you found her?" I just shrugged.

"I can try but I can't guarantee anything. I've never met her so it's like taking a shot in the dark." Wanda nodded anyways.

"Just go ahead and see what you can pick up." I closed my eyes and flung myself around, this time doing a more thorough search. I passed over animals and simply searched for any loud thoughts or communication, but it was the harder the farther I went away from my body.

"There's a gang of guys about a half mile that way, but they're thinking of drinking when they get back from their shift." A slight snort from Wanda. "Two guys farther that way talking about their wives and what they're going to do to them when they get back." Those thoughts brought a shudder from me and a sudden urge for mind bleach. "Wait. I sense power…that way. I can't hear thoughts but whoever it is, it's a mutant."

"And since we're the recon team, it's got to either be Destiny or the enemy." Wanda merely shrugged at her observation and continued. "Either way, I believe we can handle ourselves. Show us the way, Kat." It was odd to be with Wanda like this. Her aura and personality made her seem like an older sister instead of a mentor, but closer than a friend like Rogue or Kat. I didn't mind the way she was making me feel and for once, I was glad that I was away from Logan. Sure, Wade was the one who knew the most about me, but he couldn't exactly give me the fulfilling presence a female friend could have.

And with the disturbing thought of a female Wade fresh in my mind, we entered a clearing full of enemies. They were disgusting creatures, looking like a mix between a beetle and praying mantis, and full of drool. Drool just made my stomach churn and I was ready to just kill them so I didn't have to see that anymore.

From the ground sprang thick vines and wrapped around both Wanda and I, but I could sense she wasn't in the least bit afraid. Neither was I; I could easily bust out my chakrams and slice through this, but we both were going to play along for now.

"You fools, Apocalypse spoke of you so highly yet you were so easy to trap!" The disgusting bug things parted and the strangest human walked from behind them. His skin was so dark it looked charred and his eyes were so bright of a yellow, I honestly couldn't look away. What the devil was this thing?

"Who are you?" Wanda asked.

"I am Garokk, god of the sun here in the savage lands." He gestured around him with a smug smile that started a slight tick in my jaw. This kind of arrogance just irritated me.

"What have you done with Destiny?" she continued to ask.

"I've not found her yet, but when I do she'll make a fitting present for Apocalypse. And in return, he will aid me in my conquest of the savage land."

"What exactly do you have to conquer here?" I asked in disbelief. "It's a fucking jungle. Don't you have any better things to work for? Like a worthwhile goal?" His too bright eyes narrowed at my impertinence, but I wasn't afraid. He was strong, but we were stronger…and I already sensed what he couldn't.

"You know nothing, X-man." The vines tightened around me and I just shook my head.

"Men are so easy to piss off. That's where you always lose." I just shook my head at him, which of course, made him even angrier. My adamantium blades burst from the chakrams and easily cut the vines, freeing me just as the vines around Wanda burst into flame. Garokk's jaw dropped but he had one more surprise coming for him.

"Think again, Garokk." Mystique transformed from a disgusting bug to attack him from the back, effectively catching him off guard as she quickly took his neck and snapped it. He fell to the ground as the bugs descended on Mystique. However, Wanda and I were already on the move. All four of my chakrams were out and slicing through their thick skins, as others burst into flames. Mystique never got the chance to kill one; all were dead in the span of a second.

"I believe that's the best teamwork we've had this whole adventure," I quipped to Wanda, who smiled at me in pure mischief.

"You may be right, Kat."

"As if an X-man could do anything right," Mystique shot out, not joining us in our bonding moment. No surprise there, of course.

"Just be quiet, Mystique," Wanda admonished. "You may not like them, but we will at least treat each other with civility. Or did you forget Magneto's order already?" Her face mutinous she quieted, but nothing would ever erase her hatred of the X-men.

"Someone's coming," I stated as I felt a flare of power. Each of us settled into a battle stance but it wasn't an enemy that burst through the bushes. It was the flash of the mutant I'd seen before.

"Destiny!" The pure relief in her voice compiled with the strong emotion was enough to make my own jaw drop. Mystique had to be very close to this Destiny if she felt this strongly.

"Interesting," her friend stated, noting Wanda and I standing beside one another. "I had seen a vision of the brotherhood and X-men working together, but I thought it was a mistake." Distaste flitted across Mystique's face and I rolled my eyes heavenwards. Here we go again: X-men bashing time.

"Are you all right, Destiny?" Wanda asked, effectively halting the words that I was sure were going to come pouring out of Mystique's mouth. However it was enough to calm the mutant; she merely glared but kept her mouth shut. For once.

"My arm was injured while I was hiding from Garokk. But not to worry, I'll be fine. I do have news you might be interested in though. I overheard Garokk say your friend Beast is being held in a Nuwali temple."

"Where?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

"I don't know. There are only a few temples of that magnitude, so it shouldn't be that much to find the right one." It was disappointing not to have a solid fix on Beast, but it was a good start, especially for a recon that wasn't supposed to go anywhere.

"Come along, Destiny. I'll take you to Avalon and we'll have that arm looked at. I suppose I should thank you, X-man. But I could have found her without your aid."

"You're welcome," I replied sarcastically, deadpanning at the childish insults she kept throwing my way. "And while I'm being so helpful, why don't I get a portal for us?" Mystique was taken aback as if she never thought of that possibility, but it was quickly covered by her nonchalant hatred.

"**Blink, can I have a portal to Avalon?"**

"_Coming up, X-man."_

Beside us the pink portal emerged and just to show my good faith – as well as get away from Mystique – I stepped through first. Everyone else was watching as I exited and I looked around warily.

"Uh. Hi." The awkward statement couldn't cover the awkward I felt at that moment, but it was all I had.

"Did you find Mystique?" Magneto asked. I jerked my thumb back at the portal as the rest of the brotherhood mutants stepped through. Magneto brushed past me to begin to talk to Mystique and Professor Xavier gestured for the rest of us to form around him.

"First, I hoped you have all settled well enough," he began and of course, Logan had to interrupt. He was cranky, I was sure, and I could sense he was itching for a fight.

"It's got raptors, pterodactyls, and snakes as big as cars. It's a real treat." I rolled my eyes but was secretly amused.

"Well Wolverine, I didn't know you were such a pussy." It was Juggernaut who called him out on that one and had me stifling laughter as I saw my boyfriend tense.

"After this, I'll make sure to kick your ass."

"Logan," Jean warned. Juggernaut smirked as he saw the control she had over him, but Wanda stepped in.

"Enough, Juggernaut." Now it was my boyfriend's turn to gloat as the big man fell silent. Men and their pissing contests; it never got old.

"It has come to my attention," the Professor began again, this time with Magneto by his side to keep the peace, "that Apocalypse means to destroy this place once and for all. Angel, if you would?" We all turned to look at the mutant with beautiful angel wings.

"Right. As soon as I got here I did a little recon myself of the area and spotted a group of soldiers headed for the atmospheric generators. If they go down, the entire savage land is going to revert to its normal freezing temperatures."

Oh hell no, girlfriend. That wasn't going to happen on my watch, even if this place had drooly bugs.

"And I bet it'd be Ol' Apocalypse again?" Gambit asked.

"I'm sure of it. No one else would be that stupid, not even the local god Garokk." Wanda and I sent a look to one another before looking back to Angel. "That's someone else we need to keep on the lookout for. If I know him, he's on Apocalypse's side and will do everything he can to keep us from finding Beast."

"Thank you, Angel. Our first order of business is to protect the generators. If anyone catches sight of Garokk, contact me immediately." Well, Wanda and I failed that edict already.

"Professor, if I may, Garokk has already been disposed of. We killed him while rescuing Destiny." Looks of surprise were tossed between Wanda and I and I quickly got annoyed.

"He wasn't that hard to kill, honestly. Plus it was Mystique anyway. And his traps were terrible." I saw a smirk on Logan's face at my sarcasm and smiled back at him before turning back to the professor. "He said he was in league with Apocalypse because he believed that Apocalypse would help him conquer the savage land."

"He's conquering it all right," Jason muttered darkly. "He has no honor."

"He's just covering his loose ends, X-man. Nothing wrong with a bit of insurance," Toad popped up. Disgusting little beast.

"As it is now," the Professor interrupted once again, seeing us begin to tense and divide into groups. "We need to protect the generators. We will divide into teams for each generator. Each generator must be kept safe at all costs."

"This seems like the work of a horseman," Magneto stated to everyone. "Search for a name." Each of us nodded.

"Do we have any idea who the horseman is?" Rogue asked. Professor shook his head.

"Why do we have these damned meetings if all we do is just ask more questions?" Toad piped up again. This time, more than one fulminating glare was sent his way, annoyance at him rising with each word he spoke.

"Because we know what to search for in the field," Wanda explained, but Toad instantly quieted and looked away. If only I had that kind of power to shut men up, Logan would stay out of more trouble.

"We will split into teams shortly. Everyone, if you would follow me?" I hopped to my feet and began to follow, but I was held back by a gentle hand on my arm. I looked up curiously into the somber face of Destiny.

"I need to speak with you alone, X-man." I shrugged; what harm could it do? So I followed her to the inside of the X-Jet and sat across from her in one of the many seats at the back of the plane. "First, I want to thank you for saving me, X-man."

"It's fine, honestly," I stated. "Brotherhood or not, you're against Apocalypse. That's all I need to know." Destiny nodded sagely.

"Unfortunately X-man, what I have to tell you is not good news. I've recently had a most disturbing vision of the future. There was death, defeat, and betrayal. Your future is violent and wrought with blood and agony." A small shiver went down my spine.

"What…do you mean?"

"I saw the death of your friend, Beast. What's disconcerting is that in the near future, Apocalypse will defeat a large army and claim victory, and you will be trapped by the betrayal of a teammate." Another shiver passed and I rubbed my arms in comfort. "Take heart. My visions are possibilities that may come to pass. Nothing is ever set in stone."

"I don't know what I can do to stop something that vague."

"There's more, X-man." I perked up again. "The woman you carry in you. She will be your salvation and your demise." I just blinked. "I sense separation and a great pain. I sense blackness. There is a sensation of loss. I do not see the visions of this, only feelings. It seems your future is truly clouded from my sight and I only feel a fraction of what is to come. Never have I not been able to see a mortal's future before yours."

"I know Amanra must split from me at some point," I murmured. "At least I can be prepared for the pain."

"You will never be. No mortal would ever be." A noticeable shiver passed this time.

"Is there anything else you can see from me?"

"This Amanra must be kept safe. You must be kept safe until she is strong enough to emerge. This is the only thing I know for certain. Do not endanger yourself needlessly, or all is lost." Looking around nervously, I asked the question that bothered me the most.

"Do…does Logan stay with me?" Surprise flittered over her features before she sank back into her demure expression.

"I sense love," she murmured as she closed her eyes. "A companion always by your side. But I cannot see the face or see a name. I can only say that you will never be alone." A quiet moment passed. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been much help, and I am sorry that I bring such ill tidings."

"It's better to know and begin to prepare than be blindsided later." We both stood at the same time.

"I will attempt to see into your future as often as I can. You are important, Catherine. Do not let anyone tell you different. Forget the past you hold so close to your heart." She surprised me with that insight. Perhaps my past would hinder me in the future? I had a lot to think about when I went on the next few missions. I nodded at her and walked out, only to see Wade waiting for me.

"Woman, you take forever." An unexpected grin slid onto my face.

"Ah, Wade, you're good for me. Where are we headed?" There was a faint hint of surprise before he relaxed back into his usual stance.

"We are going to protect the third generator."

"Fun."

"Blink has a portal for us."

"Awesome, I can be lazy."

"You're turning into me. Dear god, I might have to marry you after all." I rolled my eyes at the man but he simply ruffled my hair before walking off and gesturing to follow him. Before I followed into the portal, I turned back and saluted Destiny. I could still feel her regret and pain, but she shouldn't feel that way. I had a right to know and she did the right thing. Before I could do anything else a hand grabbed my arm and yanked me through the portal.

"Hey," I protested as I stumbled. "The hell was that for?"

"You had your woman moment. I'm not going to wait again so you two can bond and have pillow fights." I quirked an eyebrow at my friend.

"Do you really think that's what we do in our spare time?"

"Sure, naked strip poker, pillow fights, and baking cupcakes."

I tried to say something, but no words came out. "I honestly have no idea what to say to you right now. I think I'm offended."

"You're not because it's true. Hey, look! A generator!"

"Changing the subject isn't going to save your ass," I muttered, but followed the clearly unrepentant man to the generator we were supposed to protect. It was about twice my size and quite large, but I guess it would have to be to keep this place a tropical jungle. I just sighed and sat against the generator, idly tossing a rock in the air with my powers.

"Entertain me," I told Wade.

"I'm sorry, I left my condoms on the X-Jet." I spared a scathing look to him.

"Get laid. Seriously." Wade grinned.

"I'm trying but you're not cooperating." I groaned.

"I have a boyfriend, you jerk."

"Just because there's a goalie doesn't mean I can't score." I began to beat the back of my head against the generator.

"You're going to make my brain explode," I complained. "Stop having comebacks for everything."

"Stop making it so easy." At my growl he began to chuckle. "So how long do we have to wait? Now _I'm_ bored."

"I have no idea. You should have asked while you were waiting for me."

"You know men can't think that smart."

"You in particular," I shot back. "Thank god, here they come."

"Really? Blood and violence…ah, my favorite."

"You are the only person to make me so confused that I dunno what I'm so confused about." And that was the sad truth.

"We'll have a group cuddle after this to go with all these compliments you keep giving me." As he passed me, he pinched my cheek. "You're just adorable."

"I swear to god!" I bounded up. "I will kill you in your sleep!"

"Maybe, but at least you look a bit better than when that woman took you away." I blinked again. Damn me, he had seen how off I'd felt. Maybe it wasn't the best way it could have happened, but I did feel better.

"You're lucky you can calm me down after you piss me off." He turned back and gave me a wink before the enemies I sensed broke through the tree line. Wade was already in motion, his swords a blur as he began to take down creepy bug after creepy bug. I took the other sides, my chakrams flying as I began to kill my own creepy drooly bugs. It was easy work, honestly, because I had learned to manipulate the chakrams as separate entities and if I could see them, I could kill them. I just had to trust Wade to have my back; and I trusted him implicitly.

After a wave of drooly bugs the jungle was quiet once again, but I could sense more on the way.

"They're human this time, Deadpool buddy."

"Any hot chicks?"

"Unfortunately for you, they're all men."

"Damn. I hate this place already." I laughed once and leapt high into a tree canopy, where you could only see me if you looked. Unlike Deadpool, I couldn't really block bullets and it was safer for me up here. I saw Wade spare a look at me before leaping into the trees himself.

I threw out my conscious and as men began to approach, my chakrams would slice through them. It was easy to spot their mental signatures and I could hear enough of what they were saying to stop whatever they were trying to do. Rocket launchers? Easily found and destroyed. Grenades? I threw them back. Guns? Easily killed once their fire gave them away. And all of this defense while I sat safe and comfy in my little tree.

I leaned to the side as a man came from under my tree and as I did, a bullet tagged my arm. I cried out and leapt from the tree, catching myself with my powers and killing the man beside me before he could lift his gun. I leapt into the forest, hearing a few bullets hit around me. I was desperately throwing out my conscious, trying to locate the man, but he was either blocked from me or was so quiet in his mind that I couldn't detect him. Either way, I was fucked. I didn't know how to sneak around and my blood was leaving a very obvious trail to anyone who was looking.

"_Wade! There's a sniper. I can't sense him!" _Wade never answered back, but I felt his resolve strengthen as he headed toward me. He was more suited to this than I was because of his training, and I was close enough to still take care of anyone else…who obviously wasn't a trained sniper.

And as Wade went on the hunt, I took off my shirt and wrapped it around my arm, knowing it was the only thing that would keep me alive until I could get a potion to heal myself. Plus, I'd already been shot before and I could handle that. I would just have to keep as quiet as I could while still defending this place. However, I stayed in touch with Wade, lightly touching his mind to monitor him and make sure he was okay. Even so, it was difficult. He was so quiet and so calm I could barely detect him, and I knew his signature by heart. It was a unnerving, honestly, because the lethality I could sense was pretty terrifying. This coming from the man who held me for hours until I stopped crying. The man who called me a little dove with a goofy grin. The man that harassed my boyfriend until he tried to punch him.

This wasn't that man. This was the lethal mercenary that held many men in terror at the mere mention of his name. He was a killer and he had no regrets about stalking this man to ultimately kill him. He almost got a thrill out of the cat and mouse game. This was not my Wade. This was Deadpool.

Men approached the generator across from me and I closed my eyes and used only my conscious to see. I sent out my chakrams and began defending as Wade continued to hunt down the sniper. The moments it was taking seemed like an eternity as I hid in my makeshift hiding spot, unable to move in fear that the sniper would see me. And I knew that the sniper could hold this position longer than I ever could hope to.

It was then that I felt the pain blossoming in Deadpool's mind a mere fraction after I heard the shot of the deadly sniper rifle. He easily brushed the pain aside and fled, easily disguising himself and falling back into the shadow. But for me, it was a different story.

I had stopped everything. The moment I had felt pain on the man I called a best friend, it was a crack in the dam that held me together. And as the dam fractured, Amanra welled up within me, her mind joining my own. The anger had us merging into one sentient being and our powers joined, combining into a dangerous level. I was not myself, nor was this Amanra. This was something else, something with a mind of its own, and it was definitely angry.

"You touched my friend," We whispered, our power throwing the words all around us. "That is the last mistake of your life." We let the jungle fall silent before throwing out our explosive power, power driven from the rage we felt. It came as a bright yellow light, flung out in all directions. It passed over our Wade and as it passed through the other soldiers, they literally burst. The sniper we found last and we grinned ferally when the sniper disintegrated on impact.

We sniffed the air around us and leapt into action, stopping only as we saw Wade. We felt relief that our friend was whole, but the wound on his stomach had us worried.

"Kat," our Wade stated slowly, his hands on his swords. "Is that you?" We stilled, thinking of his question.

"We are both," we stated simply. "But we will not hurt our Wade." We leaned closer and saw the shot that had at least gone all the way through. We started to take off the shirt on our arm, but our Wade stopped us.

"No, Kat. You need that for yourself."

"But our Wade might die."

"Over this little shot? Please. Do you sense anyone else?" We nodded.

"A mutant that somehow dodged our attack. He is barely breathing."

"Let's at least get some answers. Come on, Kat." We followed him easily and we found the man on the ground, his breath coming in gasps. When he saw us, he began to shake his head.

"Nyet, this is impossible! Mikhail assured me you would never get this far!" He coughed again and we smelled blood. This Russian man didn't have long to live.

"Who is Mikahil?" Deadpool asked

"He is our leader; you would do well to fear him, because he's the horseman of Apocalypse."

"We know that is a lie. He is Colossus's brother!" We cried out, hurting at the prospect of Jason having to attack his own brother.

"Da. And he will be enraged when he hears you are the reason for our failure."

"Why did you attack the generators?" our Wade continued to grill him.

"Mikhail knew you would be coming. He wanted to force you to leave so you wouldn't interrupt his search for 'the four'." I stiffened.

"Polaris," we remembered. The man on the ground managed a shrug before coughing again, this time more blood.

"Where is Beast?" we finally asked.

"In an ancient nuwaili temple. You cannot fly there on your X-Jet; it would be shot out of the sky. It is hidden and underground." The man began to cough violently and we pulled our Wade away. This was the man's final moments. And after the violent fit, the man slowly sighed away the last of his life. We looked to Deadpool now.

"We have to go back to the base. Both of us need potions." We nodded.

"Do we need to carry you?" We felt the weakness coming from our Wade and the way he fought to keep himself on his feet. We knew the wound was hurting him greatly.

"You can carry me once we're married." We knew this was meant to keep his pride intact and we nodded.

"We are worried about our Wade." We reached out towards Blink, who felt us and opened a portal without question. Our Wade stepped inside and we stepped right after him. After we got on the other side, we stopped. A few of the Brotherhood had attacks pointed at us and we knelt, ready for the attacks to come. Even some of the X-men were on their guard and watching us intently. What did we do?

"What the hell is this?" Our Wade snarled. "Don't you fucking attack her!" He stepped forward but fell, but we caught him and held him close as he landed. We snarled a warning as we wrapped around our Wade protectively.

"Katherine." We heard the Professor's voice and turned to him.

"Can you hear me?"

"We can hear you."

"We?" he asked quietly, but we knew that if we let our guard down, they would attack us.

"We are both," we answered again, getting annoyed with the question. Surprisingly Magneto gestured to the Brotherhood mutants and they all lowered their attacks, but remained on guard.

"They've merged, Charles. How exciting." Magneto smiled and we tensed. What was he planning with us? "It seems to act more like an animal than human." We knew we were offended at this man but we said nothing.

"Can you split apart?" The Professor asked us.

"We can if we wish it, but we are not safe and our Wade is in danger." The Professor angled his head and surprisingly it was Gambit who came toward us, two potions in his hands.

"Drink up, lil' dove." We glared at the nickname but we took the potions and handed it to our Wade first, ensuring that he drank it. We sensed he was near death. He drank it greedily and we drank ours only after our Wade was drinking his own. "Ya'll jus' need to back on up. Give ma cher some room." Both of the mutant leaders nodded and every mutant backed off and relaxed, letting us know it was safe.

"Split apart, Katherine." We knew it was safe now and so we split apart into the two beings of before.

I shook my head at the sensation but wasn't exactly sure what had just gone on. Wade stirred in my arms and I let him go. He stood slowly, but with great power and anger.

"You would have hurt her for no goddamned reason."

"She wasn't herself," Magneto stated. I stood beside of Wade and held his arm, trying to calm him down.

"_Wade, please. It was my fault for not realizing I had to split beforehand."_ I felt anger and rage, but it wasn't directed at me. It was at the mutants around us and himself. _"Don't be angry at yourself, Wade."_

"It was only because of me that you changed," he stated loudly and clearly. "Whatever she did, she shouldn't have been threatened for it. She was in control the whole time."

"You came with blood all over your uniform and blood on her arm," The Professor pointed out. Wade relaxed fractionally.

"There was a sniper," I spoke up. "He shot me and Wade. I just got so angry that Amanra and I…we…just merged together. It was so simple and easy. I didn't realize how far it would go, but I'm glad it did or we would have been in trouble."

"We will speak of this in private. Katherine, if you would please?" When I dropped my hand from Wade's arm he hugged me from behind. At once I felt something that I should have and I twitched in newly renewed irritation.

"That had better be a gun in your pants."

"Oh there is. But I'm happy to see you too." I shoved him away with a growl and he smiled at me. I felt relief rolling from him in waves.

"_Don't worry Wade. You're my best friend. I'm not going to let you go that easily."_ This time it was me that sent him a flirtacious wink. I heard him chuckle behind me before following the Professor and Magneto.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Oh dear god it has been FOREVER since I've done this story. I feel really terrible. But honestly, it's been so hard for me to sit and write because of the shit that's been going on at home. As of right now, my mom has been diagnosed with cancer again, though we don't know if it was localized or not, my grandpa's had a stroke, and I've been let down pretty hard buy a guy I liked. You know the 'I'm over you' speech. Just men I guess.

But I'll be trying to get stories out as quickly as possible because writing's been fun and I do miss it. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews I've gotten on this story. It honestly does brighten up my day when I get them and all. Mushy stuffs! Ewie!

Anyways, I'll be trying to keep this on track and flowing as much as possible.


	11. Annoucement

This is basically a brief announcement. I know I haven't updated in ages because real life has a way of yanking you into situations that kill the will to do much, including writing. Of course now I'm back and working on material for my two main stories.

For this one, it was originally a one-shot that I wrote on quizilla. I wasn't really happy with it and going back and reading the progression with the story, I want to tweak it a bit.

Firstly: Deadpool needs to be more Deadpool. He needs more crazy and breaking the fourth wall and Shoryukens.

Secondly: I want Logan to be a bit more abrasive. I feel like that's how he'd be after watching all of the movies, and I know he's not a swear-a-holic but censorship would kill that. I think he would be a bit more on that side especially when he's all angry over something.

Thirdly: I want Kat to be a bit more challenging against Logan. I don't think he'd go for a girl that acquiesces to him and wouldn't challenge him. It seemed that's how she kept coming out, so I want to change it a bit.

Update: I've finished the first chapter repost, so please read it and tell me if you like them better written this way! :D


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